Superman
by RaindropSundae
Summary: Carly is the normal girl next door. She has friends, then she had Lyra and her father. She has known Lyra forever, and its almost as though they were sisters. But her little paradise takes a change for the worse. (Just a heads up, its unbeta d :p)
1. Chapter 1

Superman~Transformers Fic~

Some people are destined to make a difference. To be a hero. To overcome all challenges, and to live happily ever after.

But some aren't so lucky. Some are destined to fall.

I was sitting in math class. The teacher yammered on about some algebraic equation, and I pretended to pay attention. I scribbled down the notes and stared out the window, tapping my pencil on the table absentmindedly.

I was usually attentive in math class. I didn't know why, but that day, something just seemed off, something seemed wrong.

"You okay, Carly?" Sasha asked nudging my shoulder.  
"I dunno." I mumbled shrugging.

"Will Carly Prim please head to the office. Carly Prim." the intercom said echoing in the quiet room, interrupting the teacher for a moment. But she continued right on again.

I shoved my hands in my sweater pocket as I marched myself down to the office. It was unusual for me to be called to the office. But you never know, maybe I was blamed for starting the food fight in the cafeteria. Which wouldn't be surprising.

I didn't start it, but try telling that to a teacher. What actually happened, I tripped my food hit a cheerleader in the back. So, that just shows you how great my luck it.

But my luck was about to get worse.

I pushed the door open greeting the secretary.

"Phone for you." she said gesturing to the student phone.  
"Thanks. Hello?" I asked curiously.  
"Hello, is this Carly?" a tired voice asked on the other end.  
"Yes, may I ask who is speaking?" one thing my dad taught me was to always be polite, especially to strangers.  
"I am the on call doctor who works at the Seven Oaks Hospital. Dr. Rachet." I sat down on the chair behind me.  
"What happened?" I asked quietly.  
"I'm afraid your father has died in a semi accident. His semi truck rolled three times before colliding into a power line."

I felt numb. Was this really happening?

"Thank you doctor. I have to go back to class now." I said, my voice a void of all emotion.  
"Are you going to be alright Carly?" he asked. An innocent question. Stupid. But innocent.  
"Yes." I lied. "Thank you for telling me." I mumbled putting down the phone. I guess I probably should have said good-bye. Oh well.

I sort of drifted through my classes, it didn't really sink till I was walking home.

I threw up on the side of the road...


	2. Chapter 2

Cliffjumper's POV;

I was driving on this old run down dirt road. That was the one reason I liked the city. You never feel this dirty when you drive. I mean besides the tires. The city is gross.

But it what I found odd was seeing a young girl, probably a teenager from the school I passed a little ways back kneeling on the side of the road shaking.

"Hey Arcee. What's the protocol for organics that look like they've been through hell?"  
"We have to keep a low profile." she answered. Typical Arcee.  
"Okay, talk to her it is."  
"Cliff, Optimus won't be happy about this."  
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."  
"Cliff..."  
"Talk to you after Arcee."

Carly's POV;

I heard a car slow behind me and I mentally groaned.

"You okay Miss?" a male voice asked. I stood up, but didn't face him.  
"Fine." I lied, but I choked on the word.  
"Your a really bad liar." he laughed.  
"Thanks for your concern, but I have to go now." I said starting away.  
"You want a ride?"  
"No offense guy, but I don't know you."  
"I understand, but you sure?"  
"Yep."  
"What if I told you I was one of the good guys? One of the best guys?"  
"No credibility, I don't know you remember." I took in a big sigh. "Please, just leave."

I sighed when I heard him step out of the car.

"You in trouble or something kid?" he sounded concerned, but I snapped.  
"No! Of course that would be the first thing to pop into your head! My dad just died today! In a semi accident! There are you happy! I am NOT okay! No go and leave me alone?" I snapped choking on the last word.

He was rather handsome with light brown hair and amazing blue eyes. He was wearing a tee shirt and jeans. So I could see how buff his arms were. I could only imagine his six pack. He looked like he should be around me age or something.

That would usually make me into a giggly mess. But not right now.

He just looked at me sadly.

"Hey, um..." he paused. Waiting for me to introduce myself.  
"Carly."  
"Nice name. I'm Cliff. Here." he handed me a small piece of paper with some numbers scribbled on it. "I know girls usually have to give the number, but if you ever want to call or text me. If you just need someone to talk to..." his voice trailed off.  
"Uh, thanks." I mumbled holding the piece of paper cautiously. I didn't know what to make of this guy.

I made it the rest of the way back home and through the door before it all came crashing down around me.

"Daddy..." I whispered sobbing. I never called him that in real life, it always seemed too childish, and Dad was anything but childish.

Cliffjumper's POV;

"I can't believe you gave her your cell number, I can't believe you got a cell." Arcee said on the radio, I could hear her smirk.  
"You know what Arcee, I don't regret it. She looked like she really needed someone to talk to, so I talked to her." I snapped.  
"You've been watching to many organic movies. Damsels don't exist in real life."  
"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. I remember how you resembled a damsel once." I regretted saying just as it was too late.  
'Great job Cliff.' I said mentally cursing myself.  
"I'm so sorry Arcee, that was uncalled for."  
"I-I couldn't save him."  
"It wasn't you're fault, you tried. And you're still here. Tailgate would be happy about that."  
"How can you be so sure about that?"  
"Because he was a great bot. He really cared about you. Like I do."  
"Thanks, Cliff, but I'm still going to kick your aft when we get back to base."  
"Oh yeah, sure. Looking forward to it."


	3. Chapter 3

Carly's POV;

"So he's really gone." Lyra mumbled lying on the bed beside me. "I'm so sorry Carly."  
"Thanks." was all I could mumble in response.  
"Want to do something to get it off your mind?"  
"I have to plan the funeral first. Which should be easy enough, he has a plot, I'll invite a few people, then say a few words after I put him in the ground."  
"Then I'll help you. What's first?"  
"I have to talk to he doctor who was on call and pronounced him first."  
"I'll drive."

Cliffjumper's POV;

"Hey, Cliffjumper, could you do me a favor?" Rachet asked.  
"Depends."  
"I need your holoform to pretend to be a patient at a small hospital in San Francisco, California."  
I was actually taken by surprise by the request. What was he up too?  
"I thought we were supposed to be keeping a low profile." I said cautiously.  
"This is an important exception."  
"What is it?"  
"You don't need to know. Yet."  
"What are you hiding?"  
"Not important right now. Here's how I want this to work..."

Caly's POV;

I don't know how anyone could work in a hospital. They were filled with sick people, dying people, and delusional people. In short I really don't like hospitals.

"Excuse me, we're here to see a Doctor Rachet." I said looking at the nurse who was finishing typing something on the computer."  
"Uh-huh. Follow her." she mumbled pointing the nurse who just walked into the room.  
"Hi girls." she said giving is a sunny smile. "This way please."

The hallways were simple enough, but I didn't really pay attention. Each step made the situation even more real.

The nurse was making ideal chit chat and I didn't realize that I stopped walking until Lyra grasped my hand giving it a small squeeze I nodded and continued on.

"Here it is." she said opening the door. "Whoops, I'm sorry doctor, I didn't know that you were seeing a patient right now."  
"Thats alright, we were just finished."  
"Thanks doc." the boy smirked at him.

I gawked for a moment. It was the same guy from before. But I quickly regained composure.

"Oh, hey Carly. I see you haven't texted me yet." he paused, his voice now serious. "How are you doing, by the way?"  
"Fine." I mumbled looking down.  
"Good-bye, Cliff." the doctor coughed.  
"Yeah, yeah, bye doc."  
"Come in girls." he said ushering us in."I'm very sorry again for your loss."  
"Thanks."  
"You look like you're holding up well." he commented.  
"Looks can be deceiving." I said smiling sadly.  
"This was all we could find of your father. We had to turn it into ash." he said handing me the bag.  
"So, is this all what you are found here? Handing us her dad?" Lyra asked.  
"Pretty much. But if you need any help with the funeral, or want to ask me anything, feel free."  
"I have everything under control, thank you though." I said getting up.

We walked out of the room when Lyra paused.

"I need to talk to the doctor." she said slowly.  
"Uh, okay, you want me to come with you, or do you want me to wait in the car?"  
"Just wait in the car."

Lyra's POV;

I stepped back into the room when I saw Carly round the corner.

"Rachet? What the heck are you doing in California?" I demanded closing the door behind me.  
"I would have though you of all people would have figured it out by now, Lyra."  
"Figured what out?"  
"Who did Carly's father remind you of?"  
"I guess he made me think a little of..." I paused raising my eyebrow. "Really, _**he**_is Carly's father?"  
"Yes."  
"Why wound he do this to her? His death has crushed her."  
"He feared that if he stayed with her any longer the Decepticon's would figure out who she was and she would be killed or worse."  
"Okay." I started to smirk. "Ha! This is so out of character for him. It's almost refreshing actually." I said laughing lightly.  
"I think you should go rejoin your friend now. She will need your help to get through this."  
"Yes, she acts tough, but this..."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Before I start this chapter I would like to let all of the readers out there who are reading this story to know that Lyra is not my oc. She is an co, but she was made by a friend of mine. Lyn, (You can find her on my fave authors or on my profile.)**_

_**Also, I would like to thank all the readers who have faved my story, viewed my story, or reviewed my story. Thank you guys! X3**_

_**Hope you all enjoy this next chapter of Superman!**_

Carly's POV;

I meddled with the radio trying to find a good song. One to either echo my mood, or lighten it. I would up listening to 'Tell Me' by 'He is We'. It seemed suitable. I was singing along by the time Lyra was sitting beside me again. She gave me an empathic smile and sang with me.

By the time the song was over we were still sitting in the parking lot.

"I miss him." I whispered.  
"I know. But it gets easier. Trust me."  
"I do trust you." I said leaning over to hug her.

I turned the keys letting the engine roar to life.

"Hey, Carly?" Lyra said mischievously.  
"Yes?"  
"Can I see your purse?"  
"Uh, sure, why?"  
"Just because."  
"I think I want a reason."  
"I just want some gum." she said innocently fluttering her eye lashes.  
"Yeah right." I sighed handing her the bag.

The next thing I knew she had a piece of paper out, and my cell. I don't know why it took me so long to put two and two together.

"LYRA!" I shrieked.  
"Sent!" she smirked.  
"What did you say?" I demanded.  
"I said, ahem;

'Dear Cliff,  
I think you're hot. :3  
And I like you a lot. ;)  
So here's my number (624-6574).  
So text me maybe!  
|(￣3￣)|  
Love, Carly  
3 3 3 '

"Perfect right?" she grinned.  
"You did NOT just send him that message." I said gaping at her.  
"Yep, look it says right here."  
"I hate you so much right now. You do realize that right?"  
"Pfft. Nobody could hate me! I'm too lovable!"  
"That's what you think." I grumbled.  
"Oh! You're blushing! You must really like this guy!"  
"Shut up!" I glowered.

I slowed the car to a stop in my drive way and jumped out.

"BABY COME BACK!" Lyra started singing, "YOU CAN BLAME IT ALL ON ME!"  
"Are you coming or what?" I mumbled.  
"Well you seemed so huffy, I wasn't so sure that I was invited."  
"You're always invited."

But as she started through the door I stopped her.

"What?" she asked with mock innocence.  
"My cell please."  
"Why would I have it?"  
"Do you want chocolate cake and ice cream or what?"  
"That's a dirty move." she said sticking her tongue out at me, but she did give me back my phone.  
"Love you too. Oh one more thing Lyra."  
"What?"  
"I don't have chocolate cake."  
"CARLY!" she whinnied. "You is mean."  
"But I do have ice cream." I smirked. Next thing I knew she was digging through the freezer.

My phone vibrated and I sighed steeling myself.

'Its good you feel that way, 'cuz let me say girl, your body is smoking! (´ε｀ ) *wolf whistle*  
-Cliff'

I felt my face heat and I threw a pillow from the living room at Lyra.

"What?" she asked with the ice cream in her arms.  
"Why would you text him saying that?" I demanded.  
"What did he say?" she asked rushing over. Then burst out laughing.

'Um, I'm sorry. My stupid friend got a hold of my phone and your number. She though it would be funny. I didn't send the previous message from here.  
-Carly'

'lol. I was wondering. It didn't seem like something you would say.  
-Cliff'

'I guess this is good-bye then.  
-Carly'

'Oh no you don't, you're not getting off that easy!  
-Cliff'

"Lyra, he won't let me stop texting him. This is all your fault." I whined.  
"You're right, your welcome!" she grinned.

'Okay then, how are you today?  
-Carly'

'Oh I'm good.  
-Cliff'

'Thats good...  
-Carly'

'How are you?  
-Cliff'

'I'm okay.  
-Carly'

'Sorry. Stupid question.  
-Cliff'

'There are no stupid questions.  
-Carly'

"Hey! You can talk to your new boyfriend, your welcome again by the way, when I leave! Right now is girl time! Now how many scoops?" Lyra asked gesturing to the ice cream.  
"Three."  
"Big or small?"  
"I think these times call big scoops."

Hours passed, Lyra and I had several bowls of ice cream before she left.

I sat at the table holding my head. How long do I have to pretend to be okay? How long till I break? Those were the thoughts running through my head were the clock struck 9:00 pm.

That was the time dad would always go to bed. No matter what. 9:00 pm on the dot.


	5. Chapter 5

I lifted myself off the chair and stumbled up the stairs. Usually I would walk into the bathroom, brush, change and sleep in my room.

But tonight I crawled into his bed. In the clothes I was wearing and I cried myself to sleep.

But not even sleep was my sanctuary.

All night my dreams were of the promises dad made.

'I'll always be there for you.'  
'I'll never hurt you.'  
'I'll protect you till the end.'

And the unspoken ones;

'I'll made every man you're with uncomfortable, because they will never be good enough for you.'  
'I'll walk you down the aisle on your wedding day.'

But after that, my dreams took a change for the worse, and the weird.

I saw robots. Giant intelligent robots. One was silver with a bucket head, and the other was red and blue.

"Optimus." the bucket head greeted. But there was nothing friendly about it.  
"Megatron." the other said, he sounded tired and familiar.  
"I suppose you would like to know the good news, that is if Hailey hasn't told you the good news yet." bucket head said giving an evil smile.  
"Hailey is in a state of shock." The one called Optimus said calmly.  
"Oh goody, I get to tell you myself." he paused making sure Optimus was paying attention. "I destroyed your daughters pesky spark once and for all. Her spark was strong willed like yours is. She sacrificed herself for Hailey. You should be proud." Bucket head explained.  
"No..." Optimus said, show only a brief moment of pain.  
"Oh yes Optimus. One down, one to go."  
"You stay away from her!" Optimus yelled slamming bucket head into a wall.  
"Losing your temper Optimus? HA! That is rich. You do care about your little girls. Let me tell you this, I won't rest till I have taken your last daughter. Till I have taken everything you care about deeply."

The two bots started fighting full on. It looked like a fight to the death. Almost like their shadows I saw two full grown men fighting.

I could almost make then out, but suddenly a sword stabbed through my chest and I looked up at the face. A skinny man with a cruel smile.

In short I woke up sobbing. It was dark out side, but it wouldn't be for long summer was quickly approaching. I felt such an ache in my heart I though it would swallow me whole, leaving nothing by an empty case of who I used to be.

I picked up my phone about to phone Lyra when I noticed Cliff texted me back hours ago.

'You'd be surprised. Some of the questions I've heard-heck some of the questions I've asked- are pretty stupid.  
-Cliff'

Before I could stop myself I texted him back wiping the tears from my eyes.

'I miss my daddy so much it hurts. And I'm scared.  
-Carly'

I had never felt so many emotions rolling around inside of me. Grief for my dad. Regret for the text. Fear of the nightmare. And loneliness. The loneliness hurt the most. It ate at me.

I hugged my knees, out of grief and regret. I hoped he would reply, but I would never admit that to anyone. I had just gotten a kleanex to blow my nose when my phone vibrated.

'What happened?  
-Cliff'

'I just had a bad dream. Sorry I bothered you.  
-Carly'

'You didn't bother me.  
-Cliff'

'You're just saying that.  
-Carly'

Cliffjumper's POV;

But I didn't just say that. It was a welcome change from Arcee's abuse, Bulkheads butt, Bee's chirps, Optimus's Primeness, Rachets...doctorness...and Lyrazone's absence.

'No I didn't, I texted it.  
-Cliff'

And yeah, I do enjoy being a smart ass sometimes.

"Cliffjumper could I talk to you for a moment?" Ratchet asked. I mentally groaned.  
"Yeah Rachet?"  
"How do you know the organic?"  
"Really Rachet, everyone knows Lyrazone, I don't think she's actually much of a organic anymore either."  
"You know who I mean."  
"I was driving around and she didn't look so good so checked up on her."  
"Your suppose to be keeping a low profile! Cliffjumper, her life is infinity more complicated then you could even begin to imagine! If you don't want to hurt her, stay away from her."  
"I wouldn't hurt her!"  
"I don't mean you."  
"Why does Lyrazone get to hang out with her then?"  
"She doesn't emit a signal in her human form."  
"Why are you trying to protect this girl, and who are you trying to protect her from?"  
"It's a long story."  
"We've got eons Rachet."  
"It's not my story to tell."  
"Then who's is it?"  
"I can't say."  
"You can't, or you won't."  
"I won't."


	6. Chapter 6

Carly's POV;

I didn't bother replying to Cliff's text. I needed to talk to someone who understands.

I need to talk to Lyra.

My eyes were still a little blurry as I went through my contacts list till I found Lyrs's number.

I phone dialed once twice, three times.

"Hello?" a voice asked. I guess I wasn't really paying attention to the sound of the voice because I didn't realize it wasn't Lyra.  
"Hey Lyra. Want to go for an ice cream run. I seriously need it. Dairy Queens by the beach in 10 minutes 'Kay?"  
"Sure, bu-" still didn't recognize the wrong gender voice, or the he was about to say something. I still though it was Lyra.

I don't work well on a lack of sleep...

I drove my car to the Dairy Queens and waited at our usual table. I was there five minutes early, so I had already ordered a huge hot fudge sundae.

I was surprised when Cliff walked into the building, but I was more surprised when he sat across from me.

Then it all clicked into place.

"I phoned the wrong number again..." I sighed.  
"We-ell I don't think my number is ever the wrong number." he gave me a cocky grin before continuing. "This is the strangest first date I've ever been on." I felt my face heat with embarrassment.  
"This is _not_ a date!" I grumbled looking out the window. I didn't think it was possible, but I felt my face heat even more. He just laughed.  
"So why did you need this ice cream run so badly?" he asked.

I stared out the window for a few more seconds before I took a deep breath and faced him again. I hesitated for a moment. He was giving my his whole attention. He looked like he genuinely cared. Only dad and Lyra ever looked at me like that. I blinked the tears away.

"You already know why." I snapped.  
"You really miss your dad."  
"Well yeah! How would you feel if your dad was gone?!"  
"I never knew my old man." he said calmly. I bit my lip cursing myself for the millionth time.  
"I'm sorry."  
"Why. There's nothing to be sorry about. I have a family. I great family." he paused,"Admittedly abusive at times..." he grumbled to himself.  
"My dad is-was my only family."  
"What about your mom?"  
"She died at birth..." I hated telling people about that. It forced me to remember I killed my own mom.  
"I'm sorry. So your all alone?"  
"No! I have my sister."  
"You have a sister."  
"Well not technically, but my friend Lyra is practically my sister."

The waitress placed the sundae in front of me before turning her attention to Cliff.

"Would you like anything sir?" she asked.  
"I'll have what she's having. It looks good." he replied giving her a lazy smile.  
"Your two are lucky you don't have to worry about all those calories." she grumbled walking away.  
"You look beautiful Ruth!" I called after her. She just snorted.

"So why are you up this late?" he asked returning his focus to me. "You said something about bad dreams."  
"Yeah. It's just stupid." I said pushing a strand of hair that feel out of my sloppy pony tail.  
"It doesn't sound stupid. What happened?"  
"Why did you agree to meet me? A complete stranger...at an ice cream shop...in the middle of the night."  
"You sounded like you really needed someone to talk to."  
"Well aren't you perfect." I muttered taking a bit of my ice cream.  
"I like to think so." he smirked.

Cliffjumper's POV;

One thing that instantly caught my attention and approval about this girl tonight was her appetite.

It was refreshing. Almost every organic girl orders a salad. JUST a salad! How is that healthy?!

Okay, okay, I admit. Ice cream is not healthy, but really, who doesn't like ice cream. I'll regret eating this later...but for now I'll enjoy.

She still looked uncomfortable with me sitting here. She took a small spoon full and put it in her mouth, it looked like she was trying hard not to get any on her face, but she did.

A younger waitress planted the ice cream in front of me and winked placing an extra napkin beside it.

Her phone number. Well isn't she a nice girl.

Carly pulled out her phone and tried to discretely send a message to her friend Lyra, no doubt an S.O.S. or something.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to text at the table?" I said, trying hard not to smirk, but failing. I couldn't help it, her whole face went red. I guess I could have stopped there, but wheres the fun in that? "You know, you're pretty cute when your embarrassed." her face went a darker red. She sunk in her chair and tried to hide behind her ice cream.  
"But you didn't answer my question. What were your dreams?"


	7. Superman Review

Dear Readers;

I would like to start off by saying, thank you to all of you who have like my stories. Who have Favorited them, and who have reviewed my story for me. I have gotten to read them all and I hope I am updating fast enough for your liking.

But I am righting this to find out what you all think of my Transformers FanFiction.

I would like everyone who had read Superman to write me a little review on what you like about it, what you dislike. What your opinions on the Oc's is.

I would also like to know if you think it is or isn't exciting enough, or if you would like to see more Transformer action.

I would also like to explain that 'Superman' is a prequel. This one won't be to terribly exciting till the end.

Again I would like to thank all of you who read Superman! I will reply to all the reviews when I post the next chapter.

Also, I would everyone's honest opinion. I'm a big girl and I can take constructive criticism!

Sincerely,

Haiden


	8. Chapter 8

Carly's POV;

I studied his face. It was kind and relaxed. Like nothing I could say would scare him away. Silly boy. I've had practice in this department. Lyra taught me all the tricks. But I didn't need to use them, not yet anyways.

"This has been nice." I started while picking up my bag. "But I think I'm going to be heading home now."  
"Do you want a ride home?"  
"That's okay, but thanks for the offer. I think I want to clear my head a little before I return home. Maybe walk by the water..."  
"Could I join you?"

Again my gaze fell on him. He was different then the boys at my school. The guys at my school were assholes. No nice way to put it. But this guy...

For a moment I almost felt butterfly's in my tummy, but I mentally shock the feeling away.

The boys at my school had nothing on this guy. He looked my age, but his eyes...

They looked so old. They almost looked like my dads. But dad's eyes were much older then Cliffs. Dads eyes were ancient.

It almost hurt looking dad in the eye, because they also looked sad. They always looked so friggen sad. But he always said he was fine. I knew nothing of his life before I came around. It was like he was to scared to tell me.

I sighed exasperated, but I gave him a small smile waiting for him to stand up.

"I'm going to pay, then we can go." I said walking up the till.  
"Oh no you don't. This is a date, I pay." Cliff said smirking. I tried to stop him, but he was already at the till with his money out.  
"This is NOT a date!" I said hitting his shoulder.  
"We'll see." he said giving me another cocky grin, "Sooner or later you will succumb to my charm. No one has been able to withstand it."  
"Oh, I'm real sure about that." I said sarcastically I kicked off my saddles and holding them in my hand and I raced towards the water. I wanted so badly to go swimming, to let the water wash away all my worries and troubles. But that wasn't going to happen. Not at dawn.

Not when I couldn't see what was in the water.

But what was worse, was what was in the water could see me.

I ran a foot into the water, so that is was just under my knees and turned running down the beach.

The water looked so beautiful, the way the moon's rays danced on the waves. The way the water washed onto the shore. They way the leaves on the tree's swayed in the wind. I only had a few moments to take in all the beauty.

A few seconds later Cliff tacked me to the ground so that we were both socking wet from the water.

"Hey!" I yelped pushing him away. "What was that for?"  
"Well, you started running away, so I thought you wanted to play tag."  
"Yeah, no, I just wanted to go to the water."  
"Well, then, want to go swimming? We're soaking wet anyways."  
"NO! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" I yelled, just thinking about it forced me to retreat from the water.  
"What? What's wrong with swimming?"  
"N-nothing! But you retard! Its dawn!"  
"And..?"  
"Dawn and dusk are when sharks are at their fucking peak! You can't see them, but they can fucking see you! They don't usually eat people, but they will! If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time!" I explained.  
"Are you scared of sharks or something?"  
"I like sharks, but I don't want to be stupid. I don't want to meet a shark when it's about to eat me! Don't get me wrong, sharks are amazing! And I hate people who kill them, but a healthy...respect...for them is important too!"  
"Okay, we'll have to get together during the day some time. Don't get me wrong, I like a midnight call to go to a romantic location as much as the next guy, but I would like to meet during the day, when most dates usually take place."  
This _isn't_ a date!" I said exasperated, but I felt my cheeks heat again.  
"Why don't I take you home now. I think you should try get some more sleep. That way when I pick you up tomorrow you'll be up for it."  
"Pick me up tomorrow...what?!"  
"I was stuck with meeting you at an ice cream shop, you owe me!"  
"I didn't ask you to come!"  
"Yes you did."  
"I thought you were Lyra."  
"I don't know if I should be offended, or if Lyra should be?"  
"You can act offended if you want, because Lyra sure as hell will be." I sighed.  
Okay. Okay so I'll pick you up tomorrow. Not today. It's 5:00 am now. Your not going to be up for my kind of activities."he paused, "So do you want that ride home?"  
"Why not? You wouldn't really let me say no would you?"  
"No, probably not."

He opened the door for me before climbing in the drivers side.

"Well aren't you a gentleman." I said yawning.  
"Just one of my many talents."  
"Is modestly one of them too?"  
"Of course." he chuckled.

We actual led talked all the way home. It was amazing the way he could hold a conversation. He must have had a lot of practice.

But soon he was pulling into my driveway, he followers my directions to a t.

"Thanks for the ride." I mumbled stepping out of the car. He climbed out too and walked me to the door. "You didn't need to walk me to the door."  
"Well, it's good manners to walk a lady to her door." he paused and turned to me, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "Thanks for the date."  
"This was **not**a date!" I stammered.

What he did next took me completely by surprise, he leaned down and gave me a kiss.

"Now it was. See you tomorrow." he smirked starting to lean on the door.

Suddenly the door flew open and Cliff tumbled to the ground.

"Carly! Thank god! Where the hell...CLIFFJUMPER?!" Lyra exclaimed. From the look in her eyes she didn't know if she wanted to hurt him, or help him.  
"Uh, hi Lyra. I should probably explain a few things. Want some ice cream?" I asked helping Cliff up.  
"Sure, this_ is_ serious business that we need to discus." she said walking back intro the house.  
"Bye Lyra!" Cliff called into the house while getting up.  
"Bye Carly, I'll see you tomorrow, preferably without Lyra."  
"Bye Cliff. We'll see what happens."

I don't know if it was my imagination, but I could has sworn I saw an ambulance pull up beside him while he was driving away.

"Carly! Don't you have a clean ice cream scoop?" Lyra asked snapping me back to reality.  
"Just use a spoon." I called back.  
"A spoon are you for real?!"

Cliffjumper's POV;

I was have a lovely early morning, then Rachet and Lyrazone had to come and ruin it. Thank you Rachet...thank you Lyrazone...

"Cliff. Take a drive with me." he said calmly.  
"Why Rachet, did I do something wrong?"  
"No, but there is a lot you don't understand about this girl. I can't explain to you her significantly out here in the open. I can only tell you she is a special mortal.  
"I was just starting to figure that out on my own."  
"Yes, I saw."  
"Were you spying on me? Creeper!"  
"Cliffjumper, please be serious."  
"Why? You haven't given me any reason to be."  
"You put her in danger, the more you visit with her, the greater the danger becomes."  
"For her?"  
"Yes."  
"I wish you would explain."  
"And I wish you would listen."  
::Arcee open the bridge:: I called over the comm system.

The green swirling energy that is the ground bridge open up before us. I change into my Autobot form, letting my holoform dissolve.

"Come on, Rachet, I want answers." I said walking through the ground bridge.

Carly's POV;

"You though Cliff sounded like ME?!" Lyra yelled throwing some of her ice cream at me, using her spoon as a catapult.  
"I'm sorry, it was early, and I was depressed."  
"And you didn't even call me."  
"I thought I did!"  
"Now that you have Cliff, you don't need me anymore!"  
"I didn't say that!"  
"Its only a matter of time before we are just strangers passing each other on the street."  
"Oh great, your going into your over dramatic mode." I sighed. She ignored me and continued.  
"We'll be filled with memories, but wish we could trade them all, just to make new ones with the person we used to know."  
"Now your just somebody that I use to know!" I stared singing. "Okay, let's be serious."  
"You sure you can do that?"  
"Shut up!" she snapped throwing more ice cream at me.  
"Hey!"  
"Anyways. Do you like this Cliff?  
"I just met him the other day."  
"Wow, your turning into a player! I am so proud!" she paused, "I mean, I am very disappointed in you."  
"Lyra, I'm-"

"And now we can never eat at the ice cream shop at the beach anymore!"

"Wait. Why?"

"Because its not our spot anymore. Thank you very much!"

"Well then were are we suppose to meet?"

"Good question! I don't know!"

* * *

_**I just want to say think you to everyone who has reviewed the Superman Review. **_

_**Bee4ever: Thank you! Carly does have it pretty tough. You have a lot of good questions, and I wish I could answer them for you, but that would give away the whole story! :p And for Cliff, his death in the show killed me a little bit. But it would be to complicated for the next story if he was still alive. :'( I hope you keep reading, and I have a feeling you won't like the end. **_

_**Speedmetal: I got your review, thank you! I hope this chapter is long enough for you. I like your ideas, and I will try to follow them! Thank you for reading!**_

_**That's all for now! Till next time!**_

_**Haiden**_


	9. Chapter 10

Cliffjumper's POV;

I stepped through the ground bridge looking gazing around the base. It was the same as always. Rachet had his little dysfunctional computer, and there was the organic sized elevator for Agent Fowl, I mean Fowler.

But other than that the room was empty. Except for Arcee, Bulkhead, Bee, and Boss Bot of course.

I know I probably should be more respectful to Rachet, he is the reason I am still here anyways. But right now I was frustrated. I wanted to know what was so different about this organic girl.

Rachet stepped in behind me. His steps were heavy, like something was weighing him down. The secret about the organic probably.

"So what's the story about her." I demanded turning to face him. He just looked desperately to Optimus.

"What girl?" Bulkhead asked. Bee chirped the same question.

"You're still talking to her?" Arcee asked smirking.

"Her name is Carly." I said, looking back at the rest of the group. I swore I saw Optimus flinch at the mention of her name.

"How do you know her?" Optimus asked.

"I saw her crouching on the side of a gravel road. She looked like she had been through hell, so I stopped to talk to her. What's so wrong with that?!"

"I tried to stop him from seeing her, Optimus, but he deserves to know if he won't." Rachet said looking apologetically at Optimus.

"I suppose he does deserve to know." He sighed taking in a big breath. "Carly is my daughter."

I didn't know how to respond to that. Was he serious?! But she knew nothing about us! Or did she? I couldn't tell!

I racked my brain trying to process this.

"But I thought Eleta-1 was your sparkmate."

"She was. But she fell in the war." he looked away for the moment before continuing. "When Rachet and I first came to Earth I meet this organic. Everything about her was exactly like Eleta-1 I couldn't explain it. It was as though she was reborn on Earth. I began to see her on a regular basis. Soon I found myself in love with her. I wanted to be with her always. When she became pregnant, I knew that was a sign, a sign that we could finally be together…" his voice broke, like he couldn't say anymore.

"But she died while having Carly." I said remembering what Carly had told me.

"Yes. I vowed to never let anything happen to that baby girl."

"Then why fake your death. You must know how much it's hurting her!"

"Rachet's clocking around our home began to fail, he was soon able to see my spark signal. I had to leave, that way when the Decepticons resurface, they will never know about her, they will never be able to hurt her. That is why Rachet has warned you to stay away. That is why I advise caution."

"How could it begin to fail?" Arcee asked.

"We don't have the sufficient technology."

"So Cliff's girlfriend is Optimus Prime's daughter?" Bulkhead laughed.

"We just started going! I don't know if we can consider it girlfriend/boyfriend yet. She didn't even admit that we went on a date tonight."

"I can vouch for that." Rachet said, "I saw the whole thing." Bee chirped and whirled in response.

"Bee's right, that sounds a little creepy…" Arcee said.

"I'm just looking out for her."

"But wouldn't the Con's be able to track you?" I questioned.

"I asked him to look out for her from a distance." Optimus said putting a hand on the mech's shoulder.

"But still wouldn't that seem suspicious?" I asked. Optimus just sighed. "And are you ever going to tell her? I'm sure she wouldn't mind as long as she knew you were alive. She could stay here at the base with us. She is graduating soon."

"She would be put at risk."

"But we could protect her! Keep a constant eye on her! She would be safe!"

"You just can never be sure when Decepticons are in the mix."

"But they are gone! There has been no sign of the con's for over two years!"

Decepticon's POV;

Starscream sneered down on the lush forest in Montreal. The trees were too thick for his scouts to find the energon mine. He paced back and forth tapping his foot in annoyance on the metal flooring.

Soundwave walked onto the bridge silent as always. His best and worst quality. He was a good listener, and he would never talk your ear off. But the constant watching, listening, studying everyone's every move. It was more than a little unnerving.

"I trust you have good news for me."

_'This was __**not**__ a date!'_ a female voice said ringing crystal clear from Soundwave's recording. A quiet kissing sound quickly followed. _  
'Now it was. See you tomorrow.' _A familiar cocky male voice said.  
A small commotion sounded and something fell to the ground after the sound of a door opening. _  
'Carly! Thank god! Where the hell...CLIFFJUMPER?!' _another familiar voice said, this one female.

"Interesting. I would like you to keep an eye, or should I say ear, on this development." I said dismissing him.


	10. Chapter 11

Carly's POV;

I sighed wordlessly as Lyra continued to chew my head off. Her chocolate-brown eyes conveying just enough emotion for me to realize she was just teasing me, but still, I was exhausted.

I simply allowed my ice cream to melt as she continued on. I couldn't tell if it was my imagination or not, but as she passed back and forth, her dark hair bouncing only slightly, she seemed to becoming more and more energized.

As I came to notice this, my energy continued to drop, and drop.

"So where are we suppose to meet now?" she demanded finally.  
"What?" I asked, looking up from my ice cream. I didn't notice my head slowly start to descend to my bowl of ice cream.  
"You heard me!" she snapped, but then sighed as I continued to stare at her blankly. "I said, where are we suppose to hang out now?"  
"Whats wrong with sticking with the Dairy Queen?"  
"It's been tarnished with love and romance! It was where you and Cliff went for your first date! It is no longer out spot! Thank you very much!"  
"I really don't know what to tell you, Lyra."

She studied me closely, her lips pulled into a face. It almost looked at thought she had eaten a sour candy or something. She was leaning on the island about a foot away from me. Her hair slipped over her shoulders disobediently falling to the counter top.

"Go back to bed." she said finally. "I'll come back and get you at 1:00. You better be awake and ready!"  
"Ready for what?"  
"Cutting our hair for cancer! Remember? Or is your mind to preoccupied with boys to remember some as trivial as-just go back to sleep for fuck sakes! We don't have time for this."

I slipped off the stool to my feet picking up my bowl with one hand, leaning on the counter top with the other when Lyra stopped me.

"I will clean this up. Now, go to bed!"  
"Thanks Lyra."  
"Yeah, yeah."

I stumbled up the stairs tripped at least twice before flopping down on my bed and drifting off to a deep dark slumber. No dreams, just rest.

And a lingering feeling that I had forgotten something.

Cliffjumper's POV;

::Cliff I will kill you.:: Lyrazone said through a privet comm link. I could hear the venom dripping in her voice.  
::I didn't hurt her. She wanted someone to talk to, so I talked to her.::  
::She was trying to talk to me! Not you!::  
::So? That's what wound up happening. Maybe it was fate.::  
::You don't believe in fate.::  
::I don't, I just think it's a nice idea.::  
::If you hurt her I will personally rip out your spark.::  
::I would love to see you try.::

She was a little unresponsive after that point, but I didn't really care. She was in a bad mood, and when that happened it was best just to let her cool down.

That only thing that was driving me nuts was that everyone assume that I was going to hurt her?! Why? Because I'm a guy? Because I actually a huge mechanical being that could accidentally squish her with my foot?

"Oh Romeo, oh Romeo! Where far out thy Romeo?" Arcee cried dramatically walking into the room. "Oh there you are fat aft."  
"What do you want?" I snapped.  
"Optimus wants us to go scout for energon."  
"What about-"  
"He has already dispatched the others. We're going to be splitting up into groups of two for two separate locations."  
"Okay partner, let's go."

I walked into the main room of the base where Rachet and Optimus were discussing something that was probably deep and important. Something I should care about, but right now I was feeling odd. I probably just need some energon.

Carly's POV;

"You have got to be fragging kidding me!" Lyra yelled bringing me back into the conscious world.

She was standing with her hands crossed over her chest in my door way. For a moment I assumed she was talking about my room. I admit it's a little messy, but I just cleaned last week. After was talked about cutting our hair for…

Oh crap.

I sprang out of bed ripping through my drawers, trying to find my shorts and tee-shirt. I pushed past Lyra racing to the bathroom to change.

I took a little breather after I had applied my makeup. My blond hair was straight and sun bleached. It wasn't gorgeous and wavy like Lyra's, it was straight and boring. I wanted something exciting. I wanted to dye my hair.

The first time I mentioned that to dad it looked as though he would have a heart attack. I was rather hilarious if I do say so myself.

I smirked at myself in the mirror; I will love showing him my short hair. He can't say anything bad about it, because it's for a good cause…

I noticed my face fall before I realized. I just stared into my dark blue eyes as they started to over flow with tears.

"Oh right." I whispered.

"Carly! Come on! Let's get a-Carly?" she asked pulling me to face her. Her eyes were filled with concern and understanding.

"I-I don't know if I can do this." I hiccuped, fighting the lump in my throat.

"I fucking miss him. Lyra, he's gone. And he is never coming back. He would hate this! He would want me to keep my hair long."

"No, he would want you to help people. To give to those who aren't as lucky as you are. Your hair will grow back Carls."

She grabbing a Kleenex and wiped my eyes dry then placed it in my hand.

"As much as I love you, I won't hold the Kleenex to your nose and tell you to blow. You're a big girl now. You can do that all on your own."

"Thanks." I said giving her a shaky laugh.

"That's my girl. Now come on! It's time to go!"


	11. Chapter 12

Cliffjumper's POV;

The energon mine was a waste of time. There was nothing left. It was excavated, emptied.

"Only one thing was do this." Arcee sighed. "They must be back."

"Now hold on! We don't know that yet. And if they are, we'll turn them into scrap metal. No Con stands a chance against us."

"What about Megatron?"

I froze. I closed my optics trying not to allow myself the luxury of fear. I didn't want to remember my first encounter with that monster that took the form of a bot.

"He's gone, lost to the stars. Probably dead." I sighed. But Arcee remained silent. "Hey. Look, as long as I'm here, I won't let anything happen to you. Okay?" I asked holding her shoulder so that she would look at me.

"Okay."

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

"Most likely though if we can to face some of the higher up _I_ would have to protect _you_." she smirked. Good old Arcee.

"Oh yeah?" I smirked grabbing her into a head lock.

"CLIFFJUMPER! I SWEAR ON THE ALLSPARK I WILL BLAST YOU! FRAGGING GLITCH! LET ME GO!" she bellowed, but I just laughed.

Or at least I did until she kicked off the ground, flipping over my head and kicking me to the ground in one fluid motion.

"You're getting better at that." I laughed rubbing my aft. I got to my feet, grinning at a very unimpressed Arcee.

"And you still aren't getting the message."

"We might as well look around the mine once more. You know, just in case." I said looking around the mine. Arcee nodded wordlessly, following me deeper into the abandoned mine.

Carly's POV;

The drive to the hair stylist was rather soothing. I had my window down, letting the wind whip my hair around. The crashing of the waves and the sounds of laughter drifting from the beach, it was enough to remind me how fortunate I actually was.

I have those memories. I lived that happiness. It's not gone. Like how my dad isn't. Well, he is, but he's still with me. Watching over me.

The only thing I wanted to know was if he was proud of me. If he was happy with the life I was living. Or was he disappointed. Like the first time I failed a math test.

Dad never yelled. He remained completed calm. In fact. He didn't say anything. He just signed the test, and looked at me sadly. The disappointment was written all over his eyes. It hurt to know I disappointed him.

I never failed another test after that.

"You know, I was thinking." Lyra started as she pulled the car into the parking lot.

"About?" I asked slipping out of the car.

The hairstylist we wanted worked with three other stylists. Her names was Maddie and the reason we wanted her was that should would cut your hair for cancer, then style your hair for free!

Weather that was actually unusual or not, I didn't know.

The building was plain red brick with clean glass windows. It had a solid wood door with a little bell that sounded when you walked inside.

"I was thinking that we could hang out at the park from now on." she said smiling at her idea. She pushed the door open taking the lead into the building. "It_ is_ where we first met, so it's filled with sentimental value."

"Yeah, that sounds good. They even have a frozen yogurt store beside it, so we could use that as a supplement for ice cream."

"Exactly! And it's healthier then ice cream!"

"Hey girls!" Maddie said walking up. Her hair was black with purple streaks decorating it.

"Hey!" I said giving her a small smile.

"Hey girl! I have to say, the purple streaks are my favorite so far." Lyra said grinning.

"Thanks. I think I might actually stick with this one. Unless I find a colour I like even more that is. So who wants to go first?"

"Carly should go first. She has a date tomorrow." Lyra said nudging me in the ribs. She looked like she was just teasing me, but I could sense that she wasn't that happy about me and Cliff. But Cliff and I aren't even together! But arguing with Lyra would get me nowhere.

"Okay, Carly! Come with me if you please!" Maddie smiled leading the way. Maddie was a little on the smaller side, but she was thin and beautiful. She had sky blue eyes that you couldn't help but notice every time you looked at her. Even if it was only a glance. "Okay, I know you have never cut your hair for cancer before so I'll give you the step by step process." She paused waiting for a nod before she continued. "So pretty much I'm going to be chopping off your lovely hair first. Once I finish was that, and collect all the hair, I will style your hair any way you would like. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

We made small talk while Maddie worked on my hair. I never realized how much hair I actually had. It was insane. But Lyra was right, it was for a good cause, and dad would be happy about that.

Just as we finished cutting off most of my hair, Lyra walked over.

"Getting lonely?" I asked.

"No. Some random guy started talking to me."

"So? I thought that was always a good thing."

"He was creeping me out okay?"

"Well it's probably a good thing you came anyways. I was about to ask Carly how she wanted her hair styled, and I thought you would like to add your impute." Maddie said trying to distract Lyra.

"Good. What do you want Carly?"

I didn't respond at first. I just stared into at my reflection. I had a cute little bob now. But I almost felt as though I was looking at a stranger right now. Like it wasn't me. But I had to admit. I liked. I wasn't the same little girl last week who had her dad. Her rock. Her guiding star. I was in uncharted waters. Everything around me was changing, so why shouldn't I change too?"

"I think I actually like it like this." I admitted.  
"Are you sure?" Maddie asked. Lyra just gave my shoulder a small squeeze. She knew what I was thinking. She knew how I felt.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Okay. I'll give you a rain check then. The next time you come for a haircut, it's on the house!"

I pushed myself out of the comfy leather swivel chair and made room for Lyra to sit. I wanted to stay with Lyra, but I really needed to clear my head. Lyra understood of course. But I was under stick orders to return in an hour. Or else. I didn't want to find out what the punishment would be.

Cliffjumper's POV;

Finally after another three hours, Arcee and I gave up. We weren't going to find anything here. But lucky us, we came back just in time to have a nice chat with Agent Fowl.

Frag.

He was getting in a huff over something, but he seemed to completely forget it when he saw me. I was in trouble.

Again.

"Cliffjumper! He's another good example for you Prime! Cliffjumper, do you have any regaurds for officers at all?"

"Of course I do Fowl. I tolerate you don't I?" I know, I know, probably not a smart idea to be an aft right now, but I don't really care.

"Do you know how many unpaid tickets go out to a custom red muscle car with horns on the hood?"

"I dunno, a lot."

"140 in Kansas alone!"

"Cool! I broke my record."

"We have to pay that for you! We have already put so may tax payers' dollars into covering you ass."

"You mean aft."

"I don't care what you call your tin behinds. I just need you all to lay low. Do you think any of you could do that for once?"

"Nope."

"Enough, Cliffjumper." Optimus said giving me a warning look. "We will try to keep a lower profile while looking out for your kind."

"Please do. I don't want to have to come out here again." Fowl said leaving through the elevator in a huff.

"He gets more worked up each time he comes here." Bulkhead commented.

"He is simply trying to keep his fellow humans calm." Optimus sighed. Bee's gears whirled and chirped in response.

"Bee's right. We're here to help them! Why are they always mad at us?" Arcee asked.

"We are visitors on their planet. They haven't a reason to truly trust us." Optimus answered.

Decepticon's POV;

Soundwave flew over the nosy beach. So many sounds, it would be disorienting to the con if he didn't have so much practice and patients. But his pacents was rewarded when he zeroed in on the petit girl with short blonde hair. She was humming to herself which was the only reason he could identify the girl.

_"Get me a recording of the girl." _Starscream had demanded.

He videoed the girl walking beside the water. He videoed the taller girls with short brown hair tackle her to the ground. After a few more moments of silently watching, he felt satisfied with the surveillance he had collected.

He returned to the Decepticon ship 'Nemesis' where Starscream waited with a gleam in his eyes. The same one he had when Megatron first disappeared.

"Very good, Soundwave, very good." Starscream chuckled as he watched the newly acquired video and downloaded it into the ships log.


	12. Chapter 13

Carly's POV;

"I still can't believe you actually tackled me." I muttered looking out the window.

"Really? I thought you knew me." she laughed.

I thought we were simply heading home, which I would have been really happy about, but instead we turned down the wrong road, driving deeper into the city.

"Uh, Lyra?" I asked, turning towards her, regretting that I let her drive, "Where are we going?"

"You need actual clothes to wear tomorrow. Not your so called shorts. Not your tee-shirts. You actually need shorts. Short shorts, and a tank top. You need real clothes."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked. Sure it's true. My clothes are a little modest, but hey! At least I don't walk around in an ankle length dress. Which he did joke about at one point… Lyra glanced over, giving me a once over.

"I can't say."

"Why not?"

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all."

"Since when has the stopped you?"

"Hey! I am a very polite person!" I just looked at her, raising my eye brows. "Okay, fine. But still, you are in a sensitive place, and I care about you."

"Wow! So you've hated my outfits for years?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Really, Carly? You dad was very old-fashioned. Do you honestly think he would have listened?"

"No probably not." I admitted.

"He wouldn't."

"So where are we going to buy the clothes?"

"Uh, that wonderful place called the mall."

I can honestly say that as much as I like the aspect of new clothes, and new shoes. I absolutely hate the process of trying them on. I have never felt so claustrophobic. Lyra didn't mind telling over and over again how much I was over reacting. But I maintain, it sucks.

"Didn't you have any fun today?" Lyra asked as we walked past rows upon rows of clothing. We had many bags of new purchase's, and tomorrow Lyra was coming bright and early to help me pick out what to wear.

"Yeah. I guess it helped get my mind off all the crap going on." I admitted.

"Good. That is pretty much the whole point of shopping."

"Well I learned something new today."

"What?"

"Models are nuts."

"You've got a lot to learn kid." Lyra laughed throwing her free arm over my shoulder.

Cliffjumper's POV;

I drove out of the base, bent of getting some fresh air. It was way too crowded at the base. Especially since the others learned about Carly.

"Where you headed, partner?" Arcee asked following me outside.

"Just going for a drive. I need to clear my head."

"Would you like some company?"

"Sure, why not."

For a few minutes we drove in silence. Taking in the barren landscape that was the desert. Nevada was a very picturesque place. With towering mountains sanded down by the wind. Power lines decorated the almost invisible dirt road. This place was perfect for exploring. But it was also perfect for getting lost.

"You seem quiet lately. You're never quiet." Arcee started. "Cliff?"

"Yeah?"

"You serious about this girl aren't you?"

Our two vehicles slowed to a stop and again the silence enveloped us. I hated the silence. Ever since the war started, there has been silence, and there has been fighting. It didn't balance out. Bots would talk, joke, and laugh. But there was no happiness in it.

Bots had seen too much misery, felt so much lose. Carly had experience loss. But she was still willing to be happy. I wanted to convince Optimus to tell her the truth. I wanted to connive him to have her stay with us. But at the same time, would I be willing to take away her freedom?

"I don't know yet." I admitted. She made my spark feel funny, but I couldn't tell what that meant yet.

"How could you not know?" Arcee asked. "I thought you knew everything."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." I said sarcastically.

"If you aren't sure, let me take away your doubt. You are."

"How can you know that?"

"Because I know you."

"Thanks Arcee."

"No problem. But I only want one thing."

"What?"

"I want to meet her. See if she's good enough for you."

"If Lyrazone heard you say that…"

"I can take Lyrazone."

"Sure you can. Remember what happen the last time you two fought. It was over something trivial too."

"I've never fought with Lyrazone."

"Oh right. That was when you kicked _my_ aft."

"Don't you forget it."

"You know, I lover our touching moments. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

"Hey, I proved I cared back when we first met. Remember?"

"How could I forget partner?"

"I you ever did forget I would kick your sorry aft. Again."

"Come on, partner, lets head back to the base."

Carly's POV;

I was having a pleasant dream. I didn't have my alarm set. I wasn't worrying about anything today. I would have to go back to school tomorrow. But I was giving myself one more day to get my baring's.

So why was I so surprised when Lyra woke me up and 7:30 am? Shouldn't I know better by now? Apparently not.

"CARLY! WAKE UP!" Lyra yelled, making me jump right out of bed, landing on the hardwood floor.

"Have I told you how much I dislike you lately?" I asked, rubbing my sore behind.

"No. Wait, yeah! You did yesterday when I made you try that tenth pair of skinny jeans."

"I almost forgot about the skinny jeans." I said shuttering.

"What is your problem with skinny jeans anyways?"

"I felt trapped! I felt like I would never be free of them!"

"Your being over dramatic."

"You told me that at the store too."

"Well, it was the truth."

"I was trapped. In skinny jeans!"

"If it was hard to get them past your feet, don't force them any farther."

"That's not what you said yesterday. Yesterday you were all like 'Come on Carly! Show those jeans who's boss!'"

"And you believe me!" she said laughing. "You should know that you never force skinny jeans."

"Now you tell me!"

"I love you Carly." she smirked leaning down to hug me.

"Don't touch me." I grumbled pushing her away and standing up. "Why are you here so early anyways?"

"To help you get ready for your _date_ of course." she said, forcing a smile on the word date.

"What is your problem with Cliff anyways?" I asked.

"Nothing, Cliff is a great guy, it's just…"

"Just what?"

"You two are very different _people_."

"So? Isn't that what makes life interesting?"

"I guess."

"And you know. It's not really a date today. It's just two people hanging out. No biggie."

"Sure." Lyra laughed. "Now, it's time to walk about the important stuff."

"Like?"

"Makeup and clothes of course! Why do you think I made you go shopping yesterday?"

"Because you hate me, you were mad at me? I can come up with a few different reasons."

"Of course not! You needed some actually date clothes." She paused pulling out all the new clothes we just bought.

She looked each over several time. Holding one up to see in the light, and some up to me. She kept going 'Hmmm…' and muttering unintelligibly to herself. Finally at 8:30 am, a whole hour later, she was satisfied.

"Okay, go put this, this and this on." she smiled shoving me into the bathroom.

"Hey, hey! Don't push." I snapped when she closed the door behind me. "Are you serious?" I yelped as I looked over the clothes she picked out. She picked out a bikini, tank top, and some shorts, that were a little too short for my taste.

"Yep! Now stop complaining." I could hear the grin dripping in her voice.

"I strongly dislike you right now."

"Maybe tomorrow I'll finally teach you how to swear."

"I'm dressing! I'm dressing!"

I looked in the mirror looking at how the clothes looked on me. They actually looked nice. But I would never admit that to Lyra.

My bangs framed my face as my hair reached lazily past my ears. My freckles were shining through from spending so much time in the sun. I had a bit of a tan, but it wasn't that great. I guess it was better than a lot of girls at school, but I still looked pale beside Lyra. Even though we both spend the same amount of time in the sun.

Unfair.

"I'm coming in!" Lyra called opening the door. "Damn! Who has the best taste in clothes ever?" she said with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Fine, I'll admit, I look a little better than usual."

"A _little_?!" Lyra snapped.

"Yeah. A little."

"By the end of today you'll see how great you looked. Trust me."

"I do. But doesn't it seem like I'm showing a bit too much skin?"

"Only in your dad's eyes would it seem like you were showing too much skin. To the rest of the world, you're showing just enough."

"Okay. So were all done now right?"

"Uh, no! Does it look like you are done yet?" she demanded.

"If I say yes, will you hit me?"

She hit me anyways."  
"Dose that answer your question?"

"Yes."

"Okay, sit over here, and let me see if there is anything I can do help you."


	13. Chapter 14

Narrative POV;

The two girls giggled uncontrollably as they waited for Cliff to arrive.

"So what time did he say he was coming?"

"He didn't say."

"And you were just going to sleep until he arrived?! It's a good thing I came!"

Suddenly the laughter came to a halt at the knocking on the door.

"That must be, Cliff!" Lyra said pushing her younger friend out of the bathroom.

"I'm going! I'm going! Stop pushing!" the younger one yelped catching her balance as the descended down the stairs. "Hello?" she asked breathlessly as she pulled the door open.

"Hello, are you Carly?" the man asked. He was dressed in a full black suit and looked rather uncomfortable. Considering the heat and the choice in the black suit, Carly was surprised that he even decided to wear that.

"Uh, yes. Who are you?"

"I am Mr. Maddox. I was sent to read your fathers will." He man said tipping his hat off at the two girls.

Carly backed off, almost falling to the ground, but Lyra caught her, helping her back up to her feet.

"Y-yes, come in. Follow me to the kitchen." she said, walking forward, leaning a heavily on her older friend.

Mr. Maddox sat at the closest chair to the exit.

"As you can guess, your father has left you everything. So this is going to be a very short meeting." he paused looking over at Carly.

Carly stood over at the sink filling Mr. Maddox a glass of water. She was taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. But she couldn't stop shacking.

"But there is a letter he left for you in case an accident was to happen. Would you like to come take a seat at the table for this?" he asked.

Lyra walked to Carly, turning off the tap, and gently leading her to the table.

"I understand that you would like to get this over as soon as possible. And I will try."

"O-okay." She said shakily.

"It reads, 'Dearest Carly. If you are reading this, then I am no longer with you. It saddens me, even as I wrote you this letter. I would like to once again remind you about how much that I love you. You were the greatest gift that I have ever been given. I have also instructed the man who is reading you this to give you your mothers locket. It contains a photo of the two of us when we were together. The other side of the locket is empty, for you and the man you decided to have in your life. I know that whomever you choice will be right for you.'" the man stopped and handed her the locket.

She turned it over in her hand carefully feeling the designs. She slipped it open to relive a cute, young, happy couple. He didn't have the sadness in his eyes.

The young blonde lifted her hand to cover her mouth as tears started to flow. She wouldn't look away from the picture. She never knew how beautiful her mom was. She didn't know how much she looked like her mom. They shared the same face, the same hair. But her mom's eyes were brown.

But one though echoed in her mind threatening to destroy her.

_'Why couldn't I make him that happy? Why did his eyes stay so sad? Why wasn't I good enough?'_

A chocked sob escaped her lips as Mr. Maddox rose to his feet.

"I am truly sorry for your loss young lady." he said.

"Her name is Carly." Lyra snapped. "Here, let me help you out." The burnet snarled, showing him out. Even though it may have seemed that way. He anger was not directed at him. But at another man. At a certain Autobot.

As Mr. Maddox pulled out of the drive way, a certain custom red muscle car drove in.

Cliffjumper's POV;

I walked up the driveway and nodded at Lyra who was giving me the sweetest expression; complete disdain.

"Hey, Lyra. I've come to pick up Carly."

"I don't think she's in any mood to go hang out today." She said, glaring down the road after the man who just left.

"And why is that?" I asked, suddenly picking up on silent sobs sounding from deeper in the house. "What happened?" I asked, more concerned than before.

"You saw that guy that just left?" she asked, as her face softened.

"Yeah, who was her? Do I have to scare him?"

"No." she said, laughing lightly. "He came to read the will."

"Oh man. Can I go see her?"

"I would rather you didn't."

"Let me pass. I want to see her."

"Who're you talking to Lyra?" Carly asked walking into the room, puffy eyed, and wiping her nose. She was whimpering softly, but she stiffened when she saw me. I could tell it embarrassed her, just for me to see her like this.

I felt the uncontrollable urge to wrap my arms around her, to make her feel safe.

I pushed past Lyra walk walked up to Carly who was still looking down.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked, resting my arm on her shoulder. I was supplied when she suddenly threw her arms around my waist and started to sob. Slowly I slipped my arms around her, pulling her close.

I glanced up to Lyra who gave me a small nod.

::She needs a distraction right now.:: she said over a privet comm link.

::What are you going to do?::

::I have bigger fish to fry.::

With that she turned around and walked up the stairs. I thought she was going to disappear, but she came back with a cell.

"You had better be back at 10:00 pm." she said throwing me a warning look. Carly realised me and hugged Lyra tightly.

"I promise." Carly smiled.

"I'll hold you too that."


	14. Chapter 15

Narrative POV;

The young femm watched as the two drove off, her college and her friend. She felt rage bubbling even stronger than before.

::Rachet.:: she said through a privet comm link. Her tone deadly calm.

::Lyrazone. It's been a while.:: he replied, obviously ignoring the tone in her voice.

::Open the bridge.:: she said, in no mood with pleasantries.

::Alright.::

The green energy came to existence at the top of the stairs. She walked towards it slowly, trying to contain the raging energy that threatened to blow.

As she walked into the base the mood changed from light and cheerful to dark and storming. Bee whistled and slowly slipped out of the room.

"Uh, I have to go patrol, Arcee said speeding out of the base, and Bulkhead followed close behind.

"Cliff is gone, so you'll need some back up!"

But Lyra wasn't there for them. She climbed up the ladder to gain the height she needed. Well, she didn't feel _that_ short when she was up there, even though she only came a little over Rachet's waist.

"Where is Optimus." She said coldly.

"Lyra, I think you might want to take a moment to calm down-"

"I Am CALM!" she snapped.

"You were requesting a meeting with me?" Optimus asked walking to the room.

"Yes. I was. Rachet could you leave up please?"

Rachet looked to his leader, who simply nodded, his eyes filled with gentleness, but pain. Rachet hated seeing him like that, but he complied and left the room.

"I can tell you are upset. But I had my reasons-"

"Screw your reasons!" she yelled cutting him off, her voice sharp. "And do you want to know who is really upset?" she said, half excepting him to answer. But he looked away instead. "You daughter! She is broken hearted! And you aren't even gone! If you really cared about her, you would have found a way, you would never have hurt her! And because of the pain that you caused her, I will never forgive you for that! So you can take your reasons and shove them up your aft!" Lyra finished, shacking in anguish.

"I accept that you are defensive of your friend-"

"Defensive? You haven't seen me defensive! This is me fragging pissed!"

"Yes, and I understand that."

"Oh you understand? You understand that your daughter is having nightmares? That she is breaking down in front of strangers? That her heart is broken in half? That you have killed a part of her?! IS THAT WHAT YOU SLAGGING UNDERSTAND?"

"If I were to stay, the Decepticons would have found her, and only Primus knows what they would do to her."

"You could have found a way." she said through grit teeth. "You could have told her the truth. You could have saved her this pain! It hurts to see her like that. To see her fall apart." she turned away from him, right before she could have seen him wipe away a tear from his optic. But she would have cared even if she did see that. "But you just sit here, being all high and mighty. Since you are the leader of the Autobots, you are above caring about others!"

"That is enough." Optimus said slowly and calmly.

"I don't care what you think is enough. I don't care about you. I care about Carly. And has she been through enough pain yet?" she said darkly, turning back,to through another death glare to the older bot.

* * *

**Okay, I know this one is shorter then usual, and I am sorry about that, but I thought that you guys might want to read Lyra tearing Optimus a new one. Well, most of you probably don't actually want that. But, its part of the plot. **

**BUT the next chapter will be happy! :)**

**~Haiden**


	15. Chapter 16

Carly's POV;

I sat in Cliff's car. Looking out the window, staring at the ever-changing landscape. I would change from city, to forest, to mountainous cliffs.

"Hey, Cliff?" I asked suddenly, but he only glanced over at me, a curious look on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Why did Lyra call you 'Cliffjumper'?"

"Oh!" he sight flinching slightly, but he quickly recovered. "It's stupid really, I nicknamed my car jumper, and I've known Lyra for a while, so she was there when I first made the nickname, so she never stopped bugging me about it." he said laughing.

"Wow. You must have been so cool when you first bought your car." I smirked laughing with him.

"Hey! I would be offended, but you're actually smiling. So I'll forgive you for that." he said hitting my arm lightly.

"So, where are we going?"

"To the beach."

"Did you tell Lyra that was your plan?"

"No, why?"

"No reason." I mumbled shifting uncomfortably in my seat. Trying to convince myself that Lyra was just trying to keep me prepared for anything.

"Okay." he laughed. "Well, this place is a few miles away yet. But it's the best beach that I've ever been too. I think you'll really like it." he smirked when he saw me raise my eyebrows. "I know, I know, I don't know you that well yet, but I don't there is anyone who couldn't like the beach. Well, anyone except Skyrunner." He said trailing off.

"Uh, who?"

"Sky! Sorry, that was her nickname because she was the fastest on the track team!"

"O-o-okay."

I soon started to feel over come in fatigue, but we weren't even at the beach yet. I leaned my head on the back of the seat. Slowly closing my eyes and letting sleep over take me.

Cliffjumper's POV;

I couldn't help but stare as she slept. I know that may sound creepy, but it brought a smile to my face to see her so peaceful. Her hair framed her face perfectly, and she looked like a normal kid.

That was when I knew I would protect her, always. Nothing would ever hurt her. No man, or Con. She was under my protection.

I pulled the car into the parking lot and shut off the engine.

Her blue eyes fluttered open, and her cheeks turned bright red when she realized I was looking. She brushed her bangs out of her face, and help her hand there to cover her face for a few extra seconds.

"We're here!" I laughed.

"Yeah. It looks beautiful here."

"Not as beautiful as you."

I felt a satisfied grin spread across my face when the red on her cheeks deepened.

"Come on. Let's go get some food." I said stepping out of the car. I reached her door before she had a opportunity to open it, then held open for her.

"Thanks."

"So what would you like to eat?"

"Uh, I'm actually not really hungry at the moment."

"Okay, then let's go for a swim or something. What would you like to do?"

"A swim sounds nice." she admitted shrugging. She was either playing hard to get, or she was genuinely uncomfortable, I'm going to go with the first one.

Carly's POV;

I didn't like the way Cliff was watching me. I didn't like anyone looking at me for longer than a few moments. I was already out of my comfort zone thanks to Lyra…

"So did you bring a swim suit." Cliff asked bringing me back to reality. He had just pulled off his shirt reviling his six pack. His amazing six pack.

_'Look at his face, not hit chest. LOOK AT HIS FACE CARLY!' _ And of course like an idiot, my head did not obey.

"See something you like down there?" Cliff said teasingly.

"I was not looking at your-oh screw it. I'm going to go change." I said walking towards the change room. When I realized, I would much rather go swimming in what a was wearing right now, instead of the bikini.

I stood there, a few feet away from Cliff for a few moments, taking in the scenery around me. The sunlight reflecting off the water like diamonds. It was so beautiful. So peaceful. I almost wished I could melt into the water, and be safe. Free from pain and hurt.

I closed my eyes just letting the wind blow my hair out of my face. I couldn't help but remember one of the few times I went to the beach with my dad.

We sat on a small towel watching the setting sun, listening to the gulls, and the waves, and just enjoying each other's company. No words, just comfortable silence. We didn't need to say anything. We just needed to be together.

"Hey." Cliff said, pulling me out of the memory. "Are you okay?"

"No."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Distract me. Make me forget that I have no one waiting for me at home besides Lyra. Make me forget my dad's dead."

"I can try. But it's only going to work if you go along with me one hundred percent."

"I can do that."

"Okay, so go change."

"But I'm wearing a bikini."

"Is this really your hundred percent?"

"Fine. But you aren't allowed to judge me!" I said walking off to the change rooms again.

"One hundred percent!" he yelled after me. I turned my head and stuck my tongue out at him.

Cliffjumper's POV;

I had to do a double take when I saw Carly come out in a floral bikini. Don't get me wrong, it looked great, but I could tell how self-conscience she felt about it. So I decided to do the right thing, make her feel even more uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, Carly, everyone _is_ starring at you."

"Thanks, thanks a lot." she said throwing a light punch at my arm. "So what now?"

"Now we get in the water!" I laughed scooping her up in my arms and running to the water.

"CIIFF!" she yelled grabbing my neck. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"Not until we're in deeper!"

I ran a few feet before completely flinging her ahead of me.

"CLIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF " she screeched and she hit the water.

I swam over to where she was now sputtering and treading water.

"I'm going to end you!" she said pushing me away.

"What happened to the hundred percent."

"Screw that! Find me a water gun or something! You know what, I'll just do this." She said splashing water in my face.

"Did you really just splash me?" I asked, with a mock shocked face.

"Yes I did." she said splashing me again.

"Okay, you're asking for it!" I said grasping her wrist and pulling her close.

"No! You deserved it! I'm sorry!" she laughed. A read genuine laugh. It sounded amazing.

"Oh no! It's too late!" I laughed picked her up, and throwing her back in the water.

"CLIFF!" she snapped when she resurface, tackling me underwater.

It went like that for hours. Just playing in the water. Like we were sparklings. Or I think organics call it children. Or was it kids? Whatever.

I would splash her, she would splash me, I would through her, then we would wrestle. Repeat. I actually had a lot more fun than I had in a while. It was really nice. I missed this.

Carly's POV;

After a few hours of playing in the water under the summer sun, like a pair of idiots, I was finally starting to feel hungry. I tried to ignore it, but then my stomach started to rumble rather loudly.

"What was that?" Cliff laughed. "A boat engine?"

"Ha! Ha! Very funny, it was only my stomach."

"That was your stomach!"

"Yeah. I guess I am starting to get a little hungry."

"Then let's go eat. What do you want, a hot dog or burger."

"A burger would be nice."

"You don't like hot dogs?"

"Not so much."

"Then burgers it is! And you can't deny it's a date this time! I picked you up and everything!"

"Whatever you say, just as long as I get some food."

"Here, climb aboard, I'll give you a piggy back ride to shore."

"You won't fling me into the water?"

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Okay then!"

As soon as I climbed aboard, Cliff started walking leisurely to the shore. As though he had all the time in the world. I guess for at least today he could.

This was when I started to realize that I knew nothing about this boy.

"Hey Cliff?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your family like?"

"That's a good question. Optimus is like the father of the group. He keeps us all on task, makes sure none of us step out of line. He does a good job too. Everyone respects him. He's like the dad I never had. He never has time for me and everything!" he laughed. "Rach is like the mother of the group. But he's a dude." he paused for a moment, "Uh, if you ever meet him, promise you won't tell him I just told you that."

"I promise."

"Arcee is my partner in crime. We always hang out. She's my best friend. And if she makes an appearance tonight, just remember I tried to tell her to wait, and to meet you later. But she doesn't always listen to me."

"Should I be worried about meeting her?"

"Yes and no."

"That makes it so much clearer." I said sarcastically.

"Bulk is like the typical younger sibling. He's always trying to prove himself, but screwing up in the process. But he's got a heart of gold. And lastly there's Bee. The over achiever. The one who is always ready to bail you out of trouble. They are all amazing…people."

"Sounds like you all are close"

"We are, we really are. I can't wait for you to meet them all."

"Me too, sort of." I admitted.

"Sort of! Come one! Those guys are my best friends! Why are you hesitant?"

"Well, what if they don't like me?"

"Don't worry! They'll love you! Garneted."

"I'll hold you too that."

He set me down on the dry sand shore. I wriggled my toes in the sand, waiting for him to say more about his family. But he didn't seem to have anything else to say.

"So do you want a regular burger, or a cheeseburger?"

"Cheeseburger!"

"Why am I not surprised?" he smirked.

* * *

_**Sorry to end it here, but you'll all be able to see how the date ends next time! **_

_**I just want to say thank you to everyone for their continual support towards Superman! **_

**~Haiden**


	16. Chapter 17

Cliffjumper's POV;

One cheeseburger, and hamburger later, Carly, and I were walking down the dock to sit talk. We walked down in a comfortable silence, just being together. When was were half way there, I reached my hand over, and intertwined it with hers. She looked at our hands startled, but a small smile crept over her lips.

"So have you lived in Florida your whole life?" I asked as we sat, dangling our legs over the side, a few feet above the water.

"Yeah, but I like it here. It's nice, peaceful in a way. How about you? Where do you live?" live in a small town in the middle of a desert. It's called Jasper.

"But that's in a different state! How do you drive back and forth all the time?"

"Well, I've been staying with some friends out here. I'm crashing in their apartment for the next coupled months."

"Are you here for any particular reason?"

"Well, I graduated last year, so I'm looking to see if there was anything here I might like. Like a job, or a girl…" I trailed off, trying to give her a hint.

"I'm graduating this year, but I really want to travel the world. I don't know what I want to do after that thought."

"So you're not one of those girls who's know what they've wanted to be since they were really little?"

"No, well, for the longest time I wanted to be an actress or something. But lately, I'm just not sure. I'm not sure about much these days."

"Is there anything you are sure about?"

"There's something I'd like to be sure about." she whispered, giving my hand a slight squeeze, but she looked at the water, refusing to make eye contact.

"You'll let me know when you are?" I asked,

"You'll be the second."

"The second?!"

"Yeah, I'll have to tell Lyra first, or she'll never forgive me."

"Speaking of Lyra, what time is it? I don't really want to get on her bad side."

"Umm, its 8:30." So we have about an hour before we have to leave." she mumbled, slowly and cautiously leaning on me.

I felt a smile creep across my face, and I wrapped my arms around her. Trying to make her feel safe and protected. I couldn't help but wonder;

_'How could Optimus leave her?'_

Carly's POV;

I had only an hour and a half yet. Then I had to go back home. Then I had to stop pretending that everything wasn't perfect, that my father's story ended. But I was still left, to reset, and stat again.

As Cliff rested his chin on my head, looking over the ocean with me, I felt a my heart flutter with hope. Maybe I wouldn't have to face it alone.

"I guess we should make the most of the time we have left then." he said, pushing me over and getting to his feet.

"What do you want to do?" I asked curiously, accepting his hand to help me to my feet.

"Have you ever heard of cliff jumping?"

"You are hilarious."

"I'm serious."

"I'm not jumping."

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"No. I'm afraid of falling."

"It's healthy to face one fear a day." he paused briefly, "Or so I've heard."

"Not if it could kill you."

"Do you think I would offer an activity if I wasn't sure it was completely safe?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Ouch."

I stood there, smirking in the misconception that I had won this argument, and that we would engage in a different activity, a safe activity.

I was wrong.

"We are going to try this! Even if I have to carry you up the cliff, and fling you off."

"Hey, shouldn't I get any say?"

"Not unless you're giving less than a hundred percent."

I took a deep breath, glancing behind him to look at the cliffs. Some were high, but there were a few decently low ones.

"Okay." I said, finally grudgingly agreeing. "But! It has to be a low one!"

"Agreed."

I flipped the cell and took one more glance at the time. 8:40pm. Hmm, if I played my cards right, we might just have time to walk up there, then have to turn back without jumping…

A grin crept across my face as the plan formulated.

I quickened my speed to keep up with him, and laced my figures through him. We swung our arms back and forth as we began our walk down the beach and up the cliff.

I gazed up at the towering evergreens that seemed to outline the dirt path leading up to the cliff. As it turns out, cliff jumping is very popular.

But the way the forest seemed to erupt a few hundred feet from the back surprised me. The birds sang boldly as they flew over our heads. Roots seemed to stick out of the path, waiting for an unobservant traveler, like myself, to trip over them.

My foot was caught right under the room and I surged forwards. I had my hands out to brace myself, letting go to Cliff.

But somehow he managed to catch me. I was surprised at the speed in which he did so. As though I was traveling in slow motion.

I was mostly surprised that he bothered. I've seen Lyra's reflexes, she would be able to easily catch me each time I fall, or trip. But she just stays where she is, and laughs.

But, hey, that's what best friends are for!

"You okay?" he asked, looking back as I pulled my foot from under the room.

"Yeah, but my flip flops aren't." I said showing him my newly broken shoes.

"My aren't you could borrow mine. " she said, slipping off his own pair of sandals.

"No, keep your shoe."

"You could hurt your feet if you walk without shoes, take 'em."

"What about you?"

"My feet are calloused. Wanna see?" he smirked.

"Uh, no thanks, I'll just take the sandals."

Once I had his shoes on, he picked mine up in one hand, and held his other hand out to me. I gave him a small smile and we continued onward.

I had to just stand and stare for a few moments when we finally reached the top. It was so beautiful, so amazingly beautiful.

"You ready to jump?" Cliff asking, snapping me out of my daze.

"Uh, I'm just going to check the time." I flipping out the phone. It was 9:00pm. _'Oh, thank the Allspark. We are out of time.' _"Oh crap. Look at the time." I said showing him. "We have to head back, we'll jump next time!"

"Hey, wait a minutes! It would be faster if we did jump, now come on! I promise you'll love it!" he said grasping my hand as I tried to turn away.

"But I have Lyra's phone with me, if I break it, she will kill me."

"I have water proof pockets, hand it to me." he said holding out his hand.

_'Damn it.'_ I cursed.

"Alright, fine, but if we die, I swear I will kill you!" I snapped grabbing his hand.

"Sounds good."

He gave me his crazy grin, and started off running. He held my hand tightly so that I wouldn't let go.

Before I knew it, nothing but water was a few hundred feet beneath us. I felt as though my insides all shifted upwards and all I wanted to do was scream, but nothing came out.

When Cliff tried to loosen his grip, I tightened it, squeezing his hand with all my strength.

"Keep your legs straight when we hit the water." Cliff yelled making sure I heard him over the sound of the air rushing past us. "Oh, and you might want to let go, or you're going to really hurt your arm."

I heard him laugh when I quickly realised him.

I pointed my toes downward determined to hit the water without a splash. I figured it was my best chance to avoid pain.

A few moments later I was surrounded by water and bubbles. My feet hit the rocky bottom and I quickly pushed skyward. I took in a few big gulps of air and glanced around to find Cliff.

He was laughing his ass off beside me. So since taking the taking the high road has always been my thing, I splashed him in the face.

Decepticon POV;

Soundwave delivered the new report to Starscream, who had convinced himself of, what Soundwave thought, was impossible.

That Carly knew where the Autobots were hiding.

_'Why did Lyra call you 'Cliffjumper'' _Soundwave sounded one recording again. Starscream grumbled, looking back at his comrade.

_'Oh! It's stupid really, I nicknamed my car 'Jumper', and I've known Lyra for a while, so she was there when I first made the nickname, so she never stopped bugging me about it.' Cliffjumper's voice replied. _

_'Wow. You must have been so cool when you first bought your car.'_

"I don't care Soundwave. She was simply pretending to be innocent; they must have known you'd would be listening." Starscream said, turning away.

Soundwave just shook his head and walked out of the room.

* * *

_**Sorry it's been a long time since I posted the last chapter. /: **_

_**Things have been a little hectic lately, yay for bad math marks and drama! :p **_

_**But I hope you like this chapter all the same! :) **_

_**And yes, Carly did mean to say 'Allspark' instead of 'God'. You'll find out while in later chapters. ;)**_

_**~Haiden**_


	17. Chapter 18

Cliffjumper's POV;

We arrived at Carly's house ten minutes after 10:00pm. I walked her up to the door. She looked up at me, a little curious. Almost expectant.

I leaned down my face only inches from hers, when the door suddenly opened with Lyra standing unimpressed at the door.

I froze still at the same distance away from Carly.

"Thanks for the fun evening." I said straitening up.

"Yeah, thanks." She mumbled, her face a deep shade of red.

Half way down the walk to the my alt form, I turned to look back at Carly. Lyra retreated back inside and Carly stood there, indecision apparent on her face.

But suddenly she raced towards me, pulling my head down, a kissed me. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her face was even more red.

For a few moments I was too stunned to do anything. Once I finally possessed the situation, Carly was already back as the door. Giving me a big grin and closed the door behind her.

Carly's POV;

"Wow, Carls, you've got Cliff wrapped around your little figure." Lyra laughed. But instead of looking happy and teasing, she looked tired and worn down.

"What's wrong?" I asked studying her face.

"Nothing. At least there won't be unless you tell me what happened on you date." Lyra's worried expression was hidden under a teasing fun loving one.

"Okay, so it started off with…"

Cliffjumper's POV;

"Cliffjumper and Carly sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Bulkhead and Arcee chanted as Bee laughed beside them. At least they had the sense to shut up when Optimus walked into the room.

He looked us over, before turning to Rachet. Rachet mumbled something, Optimus only nodded as the two of them walked back out of the room.

"So Cliff, what's it like hanging out with an organic?" Bulk asked.

"It's too different from hanging out with you guys, except, she can't hurt me." I smirked, looking over at Arcee, who looked proud of herself.

Bee quickly chirped the question, 'When are we going to meet her?'

"Well, technically you met her last year Bee. When Lyra graduated.

He quickly whirled that that didn't count.

"You guys can meet her after the funeral."

"When's the funeral?" Arcee asked. I just shrugged. "Somebody get this bot the 'Boyfriend of the Month Award.'" She mocked.

"Hey, I spend all our time together trying to get her to forget about her dad."

"Did it work." Bulkhead asked.

"What do you think?" I smirked. "No one can resist the Cliffjumper charm."

"Sure they can't." Arcee said rolling her optics.

"Do you want to hear what happened on the date or what?" I asked.

Carly's POV;

"He sounds like quite the charmer." Lyra smirked, placing another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

"It was a pretty good date I think."

"Of course it did. You only other date was in the middle of the night."

"That didn't count as a date!" I snapped.

"Sure it didn't."

This time I used my spoon as a catapult to hit her with some melted ice cream.

She started at my open mouthed as it slid down her hair face, and shirt.

"You are so asking for it you little punk!" she yelled getting to her feet.

Like a shot I was racing through the house, throwing crap behind me to slow Lyra down, it didn't work.

"I'M SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! SORRY!" I yelped as she tackled to the ground.

"Oh, now you're sorry." She smirked.

"Please tell me you're not about to do what I think you're going to do." I yelled, struggling to get out from under her. She gapped my bowl of melted ice cream from the table and started typing it dangerously over my head. "Why do you get to through ice cream at me, but I'm not allowed to do that to you?"

"Because I'm older."

"I need a better reason."

"Because I'm awesome."

"Please! LYRA NOOOOOO!" I yelled dramatically trying to free my arms from under her knees. But it splattered all over my head.

20 minutes later;

I sat at the table in clean close, drying my hair after cleaning the ice cream off the floor. Lyra was currently in the shower getting cleaned up herself.

She was going to be staying the night this time. So that I wouldn't try skip school again tomorrow. I wasn't planning on it, but I was grateful that she was staying.

A few minutes later she can walking down the stairs with her hair almost dry and in her pj's.

"It's eleven, you should really go to bed now."

"Yeah, yeah. Night Lyra."

"Love you Carls."

"Love you too." I gave Lyra a quick hug before retreating up the stairs and falling asleep faster than usual.

At 7:00 pm the next morning my human alarm clock came jumping on my bed.

"GOOD MORNING CARLY!" she laughing jumping back and forth from one side of the bed to the other.

"How do you have so much energy so early?" I asked, truing away from her.

"It's time to get ready for school!" she said, ignoring my questing and pulling the drapes open to let the sunshine in.

"Go away." I mumbled throwing my pillow at her.

"WAKIE, WAKIE!" she yelled, ripping off my blanket.

"LYRA!" I snarled, jumping out of bed.

"IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!" she cried, letting out a crazy cackle.

"What did you have for breakfast?" I demanded.

"I haven't eaten yet."

"Go eat, I'll come down and eat when I'm done."

"Okay, but put these on." she said tossing me some clothes, that I miraculously caught.

Around ten minutes late I was walking down the stairs in shorts that I was more comfortable in. They came a little above my knee, and where a really comfy material. She also picked out a regular, teal coloured, tank top.

"You look so cute!" Lyra said, waiting at the table with bowls of Captin' Crunch waiting for me.

"What do you have planned for today?" I asked, taking my seat beside her.

"Oh not too much. I think I'm just going to hang out with some old friends. Maybe work on my tan. Why, do you need anything? Want me to set anything up for the funeral?"

"No. No thanks. I need to do that on my own, for closure, you understand."

"I do. That's why I know that you can't do this on your own, even if it is for closure. You need someone to lean on through this. Just let me help you."

"Okay." I said quietly. I was actually thankful Lyra pushed it like she did. I wanted her help. But I didn't want to admit it.

A few minutes later I was walking out the door, ready to face the kids at school. Or at least I hoped I was.

"I'll pick you up after school, 'Kay?" Lyra called after me.  
"Yeah, thanks."

I went to a rather big school. Or at least big in my standards. It was two stories talk with over 20 different room. We don't use at least five of the rooms ever. I don't even know what they're for. I don't think the teachers even know.

It was a nice place. With lists of trees. Even a small playground. We complained when we first got it, even thought we were all really excited about it. I guess none of us have out ground playgrounds. I guess I shouldn't speak for everyone. I at least know that I haven't.

I met up with Sasha a few feet from the door. She gave me a quick hug and quick once over.

"How are you doing?" she asked.  
"I'm fine. I mean, it's hard definitely. But I have a good support group at home. It's really made all the difference." she nodded sympathetically.  
"I know you probably don't want to think about this yet, but you also don't want to fall to far behind..."  
she trailed off for a moment. "I have your homework for you. But I left it in my locker."  
"Thanks. Is it okay of I get it at the end of the day?"  
"Uh, I'm leaving at half day, but sure. I don't see why not." she pulled out her not book and scribbled her locker combo an ripped out the page. "Here you go. Oh, and it's locker 109!"  
"Thanks. I owe you one."  
"You owe me nothing. I know you would do the same for me. But, if you wanted to do something..." she trailed off, giving me a mischievous smile.  
"What?"  
"You're friend with that Lyra girl right?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Could you get me her number or introduce me to her, something? She is really hot!"  
"I don't know if she swings that way. But I could talk to her."  
"Thanks! Oh! We should probably be heading to class now." Sasha said, hurrying into the school quickly, not bothering to wait for me.

I laughed to myself, shaking my head slightly.

"Hey look, there's a new boy at our school!" a familiar female voice called out. I cringed at the sound. My heart beat quickening. I froze, bracing myself. Praying that I was wrong. That they weren't directing that too me.  
"A rather ugly boy." another girl laughed.  
"Oh wait, it's just the orphan girl." Matt Adams said, walking in front of me, blocking my path to freedom. I would have been too scared to run anyways. I've tried that before.

I winced at the memory.

"What's the matter? Upset you lost your daddy? Did you cry?" the first girl smirked, Mirada Collin's. I know this will sound like a cliché, but she really was head of the cheerleaders. For some reason they singled me out a long time ago. But I never told anyone. Not even Lyra knew. At least, I never told her.  
"Now your all alone, like a loner." Miranda's second in command, Linda Jones, laughed. The other two just gave her a quick glance, before returning their attention to me.  
"I think you have something for me." Matt said, holding out his hand.  
"Can't you cut me a break? I have no money, and my dad just died!" snapped pushing his hand away.  
"So? He was a weakling like you."  
"My father was a great man! And you are worthless scum" I snarled.  
"My, my. What manners." Miranda smirked, giving me a fake sigh.  
"We should show her what happens when someone disrespects us." Matt agreed.

I backed up quickly, throwing my hands up in surrender. But I backed up to quickly, almost falling backwards down the steps. Matt quickly grabbed my wrist, pulling me close so that my face was a mer few inches from his.

My breath quickly became shallow. My throat constricting with fear. I tried to pull away, but he scooped my up over his shoulder. I wasn't at all like the way Cliff had picked me up, he meant no harm. Matt did.  
"Linda, open your locker for me." Matt ordered following Linda to her locker. It was close to the main door. Luck for them, unlucky for me.

Before I knew it I was shoved into the locker, left in the darkness. Nothing to do, no way out, and to make matters worse, I left Lyra's spare cell on the kitchen table.

I wanted to cry. The lights from the outside world fell on my eyes, making it difficult to see out. Difficult, but not impossible.

I wish I could say this was the first time I had ever been shoved into a locker, but that wasn't true. It had happened many times.

The day passed slowly, minutes feels like hours, hours feeling like an days. The whole six hour school day felt like an eternity.

But I still had to wait for a half hour after it was over. I began to panic. They meant to leave me in hear all night. If not more. When all the kids began to clear out I began to bang on the door of the locker franticly.

"Carly! Carly! Where are you Carl's?" a familiar female's voice echoed through the hall.  
"LYRA! LYRA! GET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE!" I screeched at the top of my lungs.  
"Hey Carly. Don't worry. I have a friend to turn you lose." she said with a sober voice.

I heard the lock turning and the door swung open. I tumbled out of the locker, landing Lyra's open arms. With her were Matt, who now had a black eye, and broken nose that was bleeding. Along with Miranda and Linda.

"I heard these two kids laughing about something that I don't think was so funny. So I took cars of it and came to find you. Come on. We're going home." Lyra said, she grasped my wrist and lead me out of the school into her car. She slammed her car door shut and and twisted the key in the ignition, letting the car purr to life.  
"You better give me something for us to do so that I can get ride of this craving I have to drive those dragging glitches over." she grumbled, practically shacking in her seat.  
"Thanks." I whispered.  
"An activity, now." she snapped.  
"We could go the park and truths frozen yogurt."  
"Sounds good. Oh and one more thing."  
"What?"  
"Your aren't allowed to go back to school until three days at least after the funeral, deal?"

Even though it seemed like she was giving me an option, she really wasn't. But I didn't mind.

"Deal."

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! /: but I promise the next one will be out sooner!  
Thanks for reading!  
Review please! :3

Autobot Shadowstalker: Thanks! Don't worry, she'll be meeting the rest of the bots soon!

: Thanks for all the support! I wouldn't have been able to do this without you! :3

Guests: Thanks guys! Sorry I haven't been able to update soon, but I promise to try and update more often for you!


	18. Chapter 19

Cliffjumper's POV;

'Hey, how was your day?'

-Cliffjumper

I let the text send sitting while waiting for a reply. I was getting scanned by Rachet, so I had nothing else to do anyways.

"So what's the verdict Doc?" he gave me a quick look, but just sighed.

"Everything is in working condition." He said, but he stopped me when I tried to get up. "Just wait a minute, Cliff, I would like to have a word with you."

"Sure, what is it?" I asked, I knew what he was going to say, but I didn't stop him. I could have stormed off, but that would have done no good.

"I want to ask you one last time. Please stop seeing her. Leave her be so that she can remain out of sight and out of mind."

"I can't do that." I said getting up, despite Rachet's complaints.

"You must-"

"Look, I have had to do many things in my life that I consider hard. I have lost so many friends, my whole family, and my comrades. All unwillingly. I won't lose anyone else unless I have too." I paused and looked away. "I can't lose her. I know you won't understand, but I can't. There's just something about her…"

"By the Allspark. Cliffjumper, tell me it isn't so."

"I don't know yet!" I snapped. "But I need to find out."

"Cliffjumper." Rachet whispered as I slipped out of the room.

"How did your examination go?" Acree asked when I returned to the main room.

"It was…interesting."

"What's the problem this time?" she asked.

"Apparently I'm not a mature bot! Can you believe that?"

"That's what I've been telling everyone that since day one." her faceplate tilting up ever so slightly into a small smirk.

"Yeah I know. I was there…"

"That was the whole point…"

"I know…"

"Good…"

"So, how did your scan go?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"I was perfectly fine, and mature."

I trapped her in another head lock. She hit me away with her servo's easily, because I let her...

"CLIFF!" she snapped agitated, I noticed Rachet walking into the room, so I decided to give him a show.

"OW ARCEE! You can't just keep head locking me all the time!" I said, pretending to rub my sore neck.

"Everyone knows you do that Cliff." Rachet said, never looking up from his paper work.

"Everyone thinks I do that, because Arcee didn't want to get in trouble her-OW!" I laughed, rubbing my servo where I blocked her attack. She gave me another smirk.

"Let's go patrol tough guy."

Carly's POV;

I sat at the table, in my black dress and water proof makeup. The house was still unnaturally clean, I don't know how he did it, but no matter how big of a mess Lyra or I made, it was always cleaned by the next morning. Spick and span. A job a maid would be envious of.

I don't know how he was able to make himself do it. I had difficulty when I came to my room. I guess that was a gene from my mom. At the thought of mom, I unclasped my necklace and gazed down at the two of them together. Together and happy.

I couldn't imagine how hard it would have been for him to see me, the reason his true love was dead. To see me taking after her, almost as though I was trying to replace her.

I felt tears welling up my eyes and I had to close the necklace and put it back on. My cell vibrated again, I forgot the Cliff had sent me a message, but I didn't really feel like talking. Except, I also really needed to talk to someone. To Cliff.

"Cliff again?" Lyra asked pouring me a hot cup of tea.

"Yeah." I mumbled glancing at the cell.

'You okay? What's wrong?'

-Cliff

'Okay, considering it's the funeral today.'

-Carly

'What time is at again?'

-Cliff

'Its in an hour.'

-Carly

Narrative POV;

The walk to the cemetery was a long one. Each step closer was harder than the last. The only way that Carly made it was grasping onto Lyra's hand. Cliff parked in the parking lot outside the cemetery, activating his holoform in a black tux he excited his car and started after the few people. He almost didn't notice the blue and red semi pull into the parking lot.

Cliff held back for a few moments watching his holoform fizzle into existence. The holoform looked different than usual. It looked older. Cliff sure he would have at least considered changing his human eyes from blue to brow, but he kept his eyes bright ice blue.

Soon the two of them took their places among the crowd. There were about twenty people who showed up.

Carly unsteadily took her place in front of the people. When she started speaking to everyone, Lyra made eye contact with Optimus Prime, seeing through his change of holoform in an instant. Letting a rage begin to boil deep inside.

"My father was a great man. He was good, strong, and wise. But he was too good for this world it would seem. But I take soles in the fact that his heart spark it with The Allspark.

"I guess I should explain the Allspark. My father had a different belief then most families. We believed that everyone's heartspark came from a heart spark-"

::Leave Optimus, now.:: Lyra's comm link venom dripping in every words.

::I respectfully decline.::

::You don't deserve to be here.::

::I have as much right to be here as you do.::

::No, I didn't hurt Carly, you did. Look at her Optimus. She is crying over you. And you don't deserve her tears. How do you not care? She is your daughter.::

::I do care.::

::Prove it.::

::How?::

::You know how.::

::I could never put her in that kind of danger.::

::Then you don't care.::

::Lyra, Carly is looking at you for support.:: Cliff commed Lyra, bringing her attention back to Carly.

"I can't act like it hasn't been hard for the past few weeks. It has been devastating. But I have had the help of my friend, no my soul sister, Lyra." She paused, her face reddening as she debates weather or not to say what she planned next. "And my boyfriend, Cliff."

Lyra smirked and nudged Cliff in the ribs as a grin grew on him face. Only to fade quickly.

"I love my dad with all my heartspark. But sometimes, when you really love someone, you have to let them go. You have to move on, and know that one day you will be reunited. My father taught me all the values I hold dearly, truth, honor, resilience and work ethic. I want to thank you all for attending. Close friends of mine or my fathers may stay for the lowering of the coffin."

Cliff was amazed at how well she was holding herself together, continuing with silent tears, and only stopping a few times to calm herself down. But as soon as people started leaving, silent tears began to flow as she ran as quickly as she could towards me before she started sobbing.

"I-I said, t-that I s-should let him go, t-that that's w-w-what you do when you really l-love someone, s-so why c-can't I do that?" she sobbed chocking on every second word.

"It hard to let go of those who mean the world to you. I know I have rouble letting go. But you have to let yourself feel. You can't close yourself off." Cliff said, hugging her tightly. _'It's like how I can't seem to let go of you.'_ The though led to a constant question that was on his mind. _'How can Optimus bear putting Carly though this?'_

Optimus wanted so badly to hug Carly one last time, to say he was so sorry. But more than anything, he wanted to tell her the truth. He had almost convinced himself too. But Carly's words rang in his head. _'When you really love someone, you have to let them go.'_

Even though the thought of being without her for such a long time broke his already broken Spark even more, he knew it was the right thing to do. But he had to say good-bye, even if she had no idea who he was.

But as he cut through the crowd, Lyra stood in the way, an enraged expression on her face.

"I told you to leave us alone." she snarled.

"I simply wish to say a farewell, than I will never bother her again."

"Leave now, before I'm forced to do something drastic."

"I have suffered more loss then you will ever come to face. I will not lose her without saying good-bye."

"You already lost her." She paused, "And you know nothing of what I've been through." She whispered, with such pain in her voice, it made the mech flinch and falter. "Please look after her for me."

"What do you think I've been doing for the last few weeks?"

The Prime nodded to the younger femm and took one last longing look at his young Sparkling, before his form dissolved from existence and the Semi drove away.

* * *

_**Bee4ever: Thank you! :3 I can't wait to answer your questions either! Through the story of course! I hope I was able to answer a few questions today though. Yeah, I have a lot of fluff now, because, it's not going to be so fluffy later! :p I hope you keep reading and find out! I try update again ASAP for you! :)**_

_** : I know! I think we may be hanging out too much! JUST KIDDING! LOVE YOU TOO! :D**_

_**ForgotMyName2Day: No, you're awesome! :D Thanks so much for those amazing reviews! I was having a bad day, then I read you reviews, and I was all better! ~HUG~ I'll try update as much as I can! And I hope you do make an account so I can read you so called crap and tell you how amazing it really is! Also, I listened to those songs, and I really liked them!**_

_**Cliffjumper: But I thought we already had a song planned out!**_

_**Carly: We do, now let Haiden talk!**_

_**Cliffjumper: But shouldn't we tell them the song?**_

_**Haiden (me): Cliff, don't you dare tell them! That part hasn't come up yet.**_

_**Cliffjumper: HEY EVERYONE! IT'S CALLED~!**_

_**Carly:SHHH!**_

_**The Drone: Well now you know how she knows about the Allspark! :3 But for the rest you'll have to wait and see! ;) I'm sure if Cliffjumper had been there and known about it, he would have. It took Lyra crazy restraint not too kill them! :p I'm pretty much trying to make it follow TFP as much as possible, but if I ever stray, I promise I will bring in a Dinobot or two! :D**_

_**Guest: Rofl, yeah, about Chapter 7&9, well, that is an embarrassing story, I accidentally posted the same chapter twice, and didn't notice on both accounts…But I hope that doesn't colour your opinion of 'Superman!'**_

_**Thanks for reading guys! Your all just the best! Please keep reviewing! :3**_

_**~Haiden**_


	19. Chapter 20

Narrative POV;

The wooden coffin sink lower and lower into the ground, like the stake stabbing deeper and deeper into Carly's heart.

She stood, while Cliff had his arms wrapped around her, to support her from falling. It was only the three of them, and the man lowering the coffin. Lyra stood beside them, holding Carly's hand.

She was mentally exhausted, but didn't dare show it. She simply patted Carly's shoulder encouragingly.

As soon as they piled the dirt on top, the headed home, taking Lyra's car, with Cliff following close behind.

Lyra felt exhausted after her face off with the Prime. She knew why he wanted to say good-bye. But she wanted him to realize that the only way to protect Carly, would be to keep her under constant care, in the base, with her family. Transfer her to a new school, where no one will pick on her. To let her have a happily ever after with Cliff.

More than anything, Lyra wanted to make Carly smile, to make her laugh, she didn't deserve this. She deserved so much better than this.

At the base;

"Did you get to say good-bye?" Rachet said, turning away from the non-cooperative human technology.

The Prime simply shook his head. Not allowing himself the luxury of tears.

"Why didn't you tell Lyra the other reason?" Rachet asked. She would have understood." Rachet said, trying again.

"It would have been no use." Optimus said, regarding his old friend. "She would have insisted we didn't do everything short of putting Carly in danger."

"But you're bond was staring to kill her, to drain her of her energy. If you did not leave when you did, it would have activated her Autobot state, or killed her."

"I appreciate your concern, and encouragement, but may we leave find a new topic of conversation?"

The Prime's Spark had taken enough punishment just separating from his sparklying, he wished to not further the pain by thinking about it. It was hard enough having all the family albums and photos constantly running through his mind.

He turned away from his comrade, and closed his optics.

_'Forgive me, Carly.'_ He though as he deleted all the images, he did not plan to ever see his Sparklying again. No matter how much it hurt either of them.

He felt their bond diminish, but not enough to keep him from feeling her pain. Her utter misery. Soon though, he would hardly notice the bond, and then it would disappear altogether.

At Carly's;

The other night Lyra had made a chocolate cake for after the wake, just for Carly. Lyra stood leaning in the doorway, watching Carly and Cliff work together. Cliff cut the cake, and Carly got the ice cream from the freezer.

It made Lyra feel a little better knowing Carly would be okay, she would be safe. As long as Cliffjumper, and herself were looking after the organic, she would never be put in danger, or put through pain ever again.

"What other stories did your dad tell you?" Cliff asked. He was good at three things, talking, listening, and fighting. He had a good Spark. Lyra knew it. Even though Lyra would never grow tired of teasing them, she would always approve of them. Carly would never find anyone more perfect for her. Someone she does deserve, and Cliff would never find anyone better. They really found each other.

"He told me happy stories, but mostly, he told me these with morals, even if they weren't happy. He would tell me about this monster call Megatronis. Who sought to destroy all things good." She paused, laughing. "From what he's told me, I'm glad that they were nothing more than stories."

Lyra was suddenly overcome with the desire to throw up. She took in a sharp breath, quickly escaping to the bathroom.

_'What were you thinking Prime!'_ she though, cursing the Prime. She didn't want to hear anything else that he taught his daughter. _'I thought you wanted to keep her safe! Why in the name of Primus would you tell her about that?!'_

Quietly, she walked into the bathroom, locked the door, and held a towel over her face to muffle the sound of her tears. The whole situation was crashing like a plan wreck around her. It was hard to see her friend in so much pain, but it was worse to know that is the Con's ever heard about these 'stories' that Carly would be in serious danger.

What Lyra wanted more than anything, was for things to go back to before, when she and Carly were little. To the time before her parents were killed. Killed by bloody Cons. To be for Lyra became a pretender.

What killed Lyra the most was the she was supposed to be the strong one. The one Carly could lean on when she need to. But she was weak. Or at least she felt weak. Powerless to the course life was on.

Carly's POV;

"Wow, your dad told you some pretty interesting stories." Cliff mused, handing me a big slice of cake with lots of ice cream. "Did he say who told him those stories?"

"He said that those stories have been passed down from generation, to generation. That when the time came, I would be the one to tell my children." I paused. "To tell you the truth, I was hoping he would stick around so that he could tell my kids, instead of having to tell them myself."

"I'm sure you'll do a great job telling your kids the stories." Cliff smiled, taking a bite of the chocolate cake.

"I wish I was a stronger person." I mumbled suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Cliff asked.

"I wish I was strong, like Lyra. She was able to keep it together during her parent's funeral. Parents, plural, she had to bury both her parents."

"Some say a strong person isn't afraid to show their emotions. To let it out, and not care who sees."

"Who says that?" I asked, looked at him skeptically.

"I do."

"Sure you do."

"What, you don't believe me?" he said, acting hurt.

"You're probably just saying that, so that I feel better."

He gently lifted my chin so I would meet his gaze. It was serious, yet gentle.

"In my experience, the hardest thing I've ever had to do, is just let it out, to let it go. For you to be able to do that…" he trailed off. "I know many people who have trouble with that. I guess I'm saying it's a relief to see someone like you, to experience loss, but still be willing to feel, to laugh. It's one of the things I love about you."

I felt my cheeks heat. _'Love, did he just say love?'_ Even though I've only known him for a week or so, I knew he meant it. I didn't know if it meant he loved me, or if he was on his way. Whichever it was, I felt it took.

With the new butterflies in my tummy, eating became impossible, thankfully that was when Lyra entered the room.

"Hey! Let me slice you a piece of cake!" Cliff said getting up.

"Don't bother, she can have mine!" I said quickly sliding it in front of her.

"What did you do to it?" she asked, eye the food suspiciously.

"Nothing, I'm just not hungry."

While she gave me another unconvinced look, she took a bite of the cake. Satisfied, she relaxed into the chair.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you." She said, pausing only to swallow. "I went for an interview at your school, and I am a TA for your gym class. I'm also going to coach soccer, which you are going to join this year."

I stared at her with my mouth hanging open for a few moments, waiting for her to take notice.

"What?" she asked.

"Why do you want to work at my school, I thought you hated school."

"Yes, but I never hated gym."

"Why?" I asked, pressing the question.

"Let's just say I want to be able to keep a closer eye on you."

"I'm never going to live down being locked in a locker."

"No you aren't."

"Wait, you WHAT!?" Cliff snapped, "Who locked you in a locker! I am going to kick his aft- I mean ass! Who?! I'll find him right now! That punk will be sorry he ever-"

"Easy!" I snapped.

"Yeah, I already beat up the little punks." Lyra gloated.

"And you didn't call me."

"Nope." She smirked.

"Maybe I should ask for a job at the school too."

"Wait-no! No overprotective friend working at my school is enough! I'm fine! I can take care of myself. Please, its sweet, but I'll be fine."

"Says the girl who was locked in a locker." Lyra coughed.

"Real mature." I sighed, and Lyra grinned, giving Cliff a high-five.

* * *

_**Bee4ever: :D Yay! That must mean I'm doing something right for the story then! Lolz! Yeah, a lot of good points for both sides. I guess, you'll just have to wait and see what happens. ;)**_

_**The Done: Then you guessed right! :) I'm sure Lyra would have been really happy if you did. :P She would have joined right in. I promise it'll be one of those guys! :) I don't know, that is a good question!**_

_**I hope you guys liked this chapter! I figured I was painting Optimus as the villain, and I wanted to show what it was like for him too!**_

_**So keep reading and reviewing! :D**_

_**~Haiden. **_


	20. Chapter 21

Cliff's POV;

Soon after finishing my cake, Carly walked me to the door. We didn't say anything. She hugged me, and I wrapped my arms around her. I didn't know what more there was to say at that moment, so we didn't say anything.

Finally she pulled away, and studied my face, what she was looking for I'm not sure. But I took advantage of the opportunity, and leaned down to give her a kiss. It lasted a few seconds longer than usual, but I wasn't complaining.

"There's this dance at the end of next month." She whispered, looked away, her cheeks colouring only a little bit. "Would you like to-"

"I'd love to take you to your dance." I smiled. She looked back up at me, her eyes filled with gratitude.

We hugged for a few more minutes, before I really had to go. I walked down the driveway, and slipped into the car, only when her home was out of view did I let my holoform dissolve. But that was when I realized I didn't know what kind of dance it was. Was it casual, formal, costume, masquerade?

::Hey Lyra?::

::What?:: she asked, her voice sounded tired and strained.

::What kind of dance is it?::

::Costume.::

::So I have to had a mask and scrap?::

::Yep. That is what is usually what masquerade means.::

::Is there any special occasion going on as too why?::

::Uh yeah, Halloween…::

::Do you know what Carly is going to dress up as?::

::No, we're going Halloween shopping later next month.::

After that I felt her turn her privet line off. I guess she wasn't in the mood to talk right now.

::Hey Cliff, how was the funereal?:: Arcee asked, opening a new privet line.

::It was beautiful. But with the secrets Optumus told Carly…it just makes me more certain that she should be under our protection.::

::She knows about us?::

::No. She thinks that they are just stories. But Optimus told her about Megatron. But she only know of him as Megatronis.::

::Why would Optimus call him Megatronis?::

::I don't know. And I'm sure no one is going to tell us.::

::Probably not. They are pretty tight lipped. Especially as of late.::

::Soo…when do we get to meet her?::

::Would you like to go to a Halloween dance?::

::You mean dressing up and scrap?::

::Yeah.::

::Is that the only way I'm going to meet her?::

::Yeah.::

::Frag you.::

::Love you too.::

Carly's POV;

About a month had passed since Lyra started working at our school. It was nice, but at the same time I actually had to participate in gym now. But at least Matt, Miranda, and Linda have been leaving me alone. But whenever I saw them, they would send me an evil glare. I knew they weren't done yet. I knew next time I faced them, I would be alone, and I would have to stand up for myself. Which for some stupid reason was too difficult to even think about.

Lyra and I were heading home when Lyra grasped my shoulder. She had an excited look on her face, causing me to get just a little bit nervous.

"Yes?" I asked, throwing her a sideways glance.

"Do I want to know what you want?" I asked.

"I think you do."

"Good-bye." I laughed starting to walk away.

"Ouch." she laughed, catching up to me easily.

"What did you want to do?" I asked, still smirking.

"I wanted to ask if we could go to that new Halloween shop. Halloween in next week."

"Sure. Do you have a date yet?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, a friend is taking me."

"Do I know him?"

"Yeah, he took me to grad last year."

"Bee! It'll be good to see him again. How's he been?"

"He's been good, same old innocent Bee."

"I can't believe you haven't changed that yet."

"Me either!"

We both had a little giggle as we hopped in the car. She turned the key, and quickly pulled out of the parking lot. It made me think of last year, when would drive home, and dad would have made snakes, or would have been gone.

He was gone a lot. I guess that's why it took me so long to let it sink in that he was gone. For real. To never return.

I quickly blinked away the tears, letting out a slightly frustrated sigh.

"What is it?" Lyra asked, glancing over, showing a bit of concern.

"It's nothing." I sighed, "I'm just tired of being sad."

"Then be happy. There's nothing stopping you."

"I guess I just feel guilty being happy sometimes."

"That is the stupidest thing you have ever said. You dad wants you to be happy. This is your life now Carls, stop living in the past."

"Thanks Lyra."

"Anytime. Now what do you want to be for Halloween."

"Well, in ELA we're reading this book about Venice and the masquerade." I said, feeling my cheeks flush with a little embarrassment. "What about you?"

"Bee and I are going as Batman and Batgirl. Masquerade sounds pretty. Is Cliff going to dress up like that too?"

"Uh, I don't really know. We decided to surprise each other."

"Carly, Carly, Carly." Lyra sighed shaking her head. "You never let a boy surprise you with something so important."

"I trust him." Lyra snorted at that.

"You shouldn't, he'll probably come as a realistic looking zombie. Do you want that?"

"It'd be cool…" I looked ahead for a few seconds before adding, "At first."

"But you're still not going to tell him are you?"

"Nope."

"Okay, think about this. Wouldn't it be cute if you went dressed up for masquerade, and he dressed up as the Phantom of the Opera?"

"Yes, but still, I want it to be surprise, so don't tell him!"

"Fine, but it's your funeral. Oh yeah! I almost forgot something."

"What?"

"I'm also bringing a friend of mine so that Sasha leaves me alone."

"Okay, what her name?"

"Bulk-Bernadette."

"Bulk-Bernadette, what kind of name is that?"

"Her name is just Bernadette, but I was thinking about my friend Bulk, she is his sister."

"Okay. Is Bulk going to come with her too?"

"No, he's going to be…staying behind."

"Okay."

Cliffjumper's POV;

::Finally!:: Arcee said over the comm link.

::What is it? An energon mine?:: I asked hopefully, we still had a bit of energon left, but it would be really nice to have more.

::Nope. I finally get to meet Carly tomorrow.::

::Oh yeah.::

::You didn't forget you date did you?::

::No! Of course not. I forgot you were coming.::

::Yeah, your not leaving me behind again, and I should warn you…::

::What?::

::Lyra is coming over an hour before to help us pick out our costumes.::

::But I already picked a costume.::

::I hate to break it to you Cliff, but no girl wants to dance with a creepy realistic zombie. They might say it's a cool costume, but only for so long.::

::But Carly likes zombies, she plays 'Left 4 Dead' and has read 'Rot & Ruin'.::

::She may like reading about zombies, and killing zombies, but let's face it, she doesn't have to actually see the zombies in the books, and the video games are really unrealistic.::

::I don't want to talk to you about this anymore.::

::You big baby.::

We drove around, talking about the dance, Cybatron, how we first meet, how she really did care. All the adventures we've been on since then, and how the times have really changed.

::Guys, I'm bridging you back to base, you need to get ready.:: Lyra said over shared comm link between Arcee and myself.

We both slowed to a stop and transformed. I looked at Arcee, and laughed to myself.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"Nothing, it's just I don't know who should be more worried about what Lyra had picked out for our outfits, me or you." I smirked.

"For the love of Primus! Cliff! I wasn't worried till you said that!"

Carly's POV;

Lyra Was all dressed up in her bat girl costume, and was putting some final touch up's on my makeup. When she was finished, she turned me towards the mirror with a triumphant smile on her face.

I took a step closer to the mirror. _'Is that really me?'_ I wondered. I slipped on my mask, turning to give Lyra my biggest grin.

"What do you think?" Lyra demanded.

"I think I look like a princess." I laughed.

"You look like a princess." Lyra smiled, giving me a big hug. "No come on! We don't want to be late to the dance!"

"How am I going to spot Cliff?" I asked, Lyra still wasn't telling me what his costume was of.

"Trust me, you'll know." She smiled.

"Should I be worried?"

"Naw, it's all good. You'll be happy."

"I hope you're right."

"I am right."

Cliffjumper's POV;

Arcee, Bumblebee, and a female Bulkhead who didn't know his holoform was in femm mode all stood on the dance floor laughing and talking to one another.

"Hey Cliff, look their's Lyra, and who I'm assuming is Carly." Arcee smirked, watching my reaction. "She's really pretty, I can see why you took an interest in her."

"I didn't take in interest in her for her looks." I mumbled, turning to see Lyra and Carly walking up. Arcee was right though, Carly looked beautiful. She wore an elegant mask, and an amazing black dress with a cloak.

"Hey Cliff!" she smiled up at me, and I swore I felt my spark skip a beat.

"Hi Carly." I grinned. "You look amazing."

"Thanks." She laughed, with a slight blush creeping across her face. "You look pretty handsome yourself." She paused for a moment. "Who's your friend Cliff?" she asked, I didn't say anything, but I could tell she was worried.

"This is my sister Arcee." I grinned. Carly's face flushed even more.

"Hello Carly, I've heard so much about you." Acree started smirking. "In fact you're all Cliff seems to talk about anymore."

"I've heard a lot about you too Arcee. I'm happy I finally get to meet you."

"And I'm Bulk!" Bulkhead grinned, jumping right into the conversation.

"Hi Bulk. I've heard a lot about you too. It's nice to meet you." Carly smiled, but she gave me a questioning look, as if to say 'I though you said Bulkhead was a boy…'

I head a slow song come on and I couldn't resist. I pulled Carly close and walked off to the dance floor, giving Bulk and Arcee a wave good bye. When we were finally on the dance floor, Carly threw her arms around my neck and I slid mine around her waist, pulling her even closer as she rested her head on my shoulder. I felt as though this was the perfect moment. Carly and I, just being together. I never wanted to let her go. I wanted to just keep dancing.

But all too soon, the song came to an end.

Carly's POV;

I wanted to hold Cliff even more tightly as he pulled away, but I didn't stop him. He looked down at me, with a content smile on his face. He pulled up my chin just a touch with his figure, and kissed my lips tenderly.

"I'm going to get something to drink, then-" I felt my face flush, "Could we dance some more?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me."

I made my way thought the crowd, waving 'hi' to Lrya and Bee who were dancing to the fast paced song. But before I even made it to the punch table, I felt someone grab my arm, and pull me over to the side of the gym hard.

"Ow!" I yelped, looking to see Matt, Miranda, and Linda all looking down on me.

"I think we need to have a privet conversation." Miranda grumbled, out in the hall.

"Fine." I muttered.

"Is she getting fresh with us?" Matt asked.

"I think so." Miranda nodded glaring at me.

I was lead through the gym towards the exit. I looked around desperately to see if I could make eye contact with Lyra or Cliff. Right before we disappeared into the hall, I caught sight of Lyra, who was looking in our direction with the death glare.

Once we were in the hall though, I was starting to become a little pissed. I was having a wonderful evening, and they just come along thinking they can ruin it! _'No.' _I thought, _'It ends tonight.'_ Before any of them even had a chance to yell at me I snapped.

"Look!" I snarled. "I don't have to keep putting up with you bullshit. I am finally happy again, and I won't let any of you ruin it. So why don't you all just go and find someone else to pick on, because I have had enough, none of you hold any power over me anymore."

They all looked at me dumb founded for a few moment. But once they recovered, it was too late.

"You can't-" Miranda started.

"I think she just did. I suggest you all do what the little lady asked, before you get into big trouble." a familiar voice said behind me. I gave a sigh of relief, it was Cliff.

"We don't have to listen to you." Matt growled.

"No, but you have to listen to me." Lyra said, her voice filled with venom.

The three quickly retreated leaving me with my two guardian angles. I turned to look at the two of them, who were smiling awfully big.

"You trashed their car, didn't you." I asked, a grin stretching across my face as well as they pulled baseball bats out from behind them.

"We couldn't resist." Lyra laughed.

"Just tell me if they give you any more trouble." Cliff said giving me a hug.

"I have a feeling they won't but I will." I smiled, hugging him tighter.

* * *

_**The Drone: I'm so sorry I haven't been updating! D: Can you forgive me? I have been really busy lately, with good stuff, and bad stuff. Thanks for not giving up on me! I think I should be updating more often lately again now!**_

_** : I know! I love them too! They are amazing, with you help of course! :3**_

_**Corona Pax: Thank you! I know! Those parts were hard to write, but I'm really glad you are enjoying the story, I just hope you are still there and still ready to read 'Superman'! I'm really sorry I left you waiting for so long! :(**_

_**Bee4ever: I know! I feel so bad for them, but this is the way the story has to go. :( I'm so so so so sorry I left you waiting for the next chapter! Can you forgive me?**_

_**~Haiden**_


	21. Chapter 22

Cliffjumper's POV;

Since the action was over, the three of us walked back into the gym. As soon as we took a step inside I saw Bulk dancing with a girl. I don't know why I was shocked. I mean, I knew Bulkhead was under the impression that he was a boy right now. The chick saw him as a girl, which meant only one thing. I gave a nod of approval to no one in particular. I was proud of Bulk to find a girl.

::She's the reason I had Bulk become a girl.:: Lyra admitted over a comm link.

::Not into chicks?:: I asked.

::I just wanted to hang out with my friends tonight.::

::Bulk seems to be having a good time.::

::He's a sweet spark.::

::He won't be so sweet when he finds out what you did.::

::Tell him and die.::

::I don't think I'll have to tell him, he'll find out sooner or later.::

::Don't you have something to do with Carly?::

::It was nice talking to you too.::

:Just don't screw up.::

::Me screw up? Impossible!::

::No comment.::

::Ouch…::

"Hey, Carly?" I asked, looking at her, she glanced up, waiting for me to continue. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the beach. To our spot." I bit my lip, I didn't know if she thought of the cliff as our spot or the Dairy Queen.

"The Cliff?" she asked. I nodded relived we were thinking about the same place.

Carly's POV;

It was only a guess that he was thinking about the cliff. I liked to think of it as our spot, because that's where I took my leap of faith, in more ways than one. That was the moment I decided I was going to make this work with Cliff, that I was going to trust him. It was the most horrifying and exhilarating moment of my life. The thought of going back there with him, and that he thought of it as our spot too, made butterflies fill in my tummy.

The ride felt shorter then last time, maybe because we weren't so-maybe because I wasn't so nervous. I don't think I have ever seen Cliff nervous, then again, I haven't known him for too long yet.

"So you've really never been on a roller coaster?" I asked as I stepped out of the car. "See ya later Jumper." I laughed, patting the top of the car, after closing the door.

"No, I really haven't am I missing something fun?"

"It's kinda like the whole cliffjumping thing, except your strapped in a small cart thing, that is attached to a track. You go speeding down the track, heading down at 80 degrees, then upside down, and round and round! It's fun, and you are almost garneted not to die."

"Almost?" he asked rising an eye brow."

"Accidents happen, but it's rare." I shrugged. I looked back at him, noticing he was carrying-"Cliff why do you have a guitar?" I demanded.

"Why do you think, I'm going to serenade you!" he laughed grinning. I felt my face heat in embarrassment, _'Why else would he have a guitar?'_ I snapped at myself.

Before I knew it, we were at the top, right where we were a few weeks ago. I leaned back against the tree, looking up at the starts. It was such a beautiful night.

Cliffjumper's POV;

This was it, this was my chance. I uploaded the way to play guitar, and the song, just for this occasion, just too officially ask Carly out. I pulled out the guitar and started playing the song.

_'There are no words, to paint a picture of you girl~'_

It was true, when the bots asked me to describe her at base, I wouldn't be able to come up with anything. She looked over at me, a small smile decorated her face, along with two bright red cheeks.

_'You eye's and those curves, it's like you're from some other world~'_

Our eyes locked, I wore a huge smile, but she just looked at me dumbfounded, like 'was someone really doing this for me?' Hell yes I was. I wanted to be with her, and stay with her. She was becoming my world.

_'You're walking my way, oh God it's so frustrating~' _

In some ways it was, I loved being with her, but I couldn't tell her my biggest secrets. I couldn't give her back her dad. I wanted to, Primus knows how much. But I couldn't, because in some ways Optimus was right, I didn't want to strip her of her freedom.

_'So why do I disappear, when you come near, it make me feel so small~'_

I did disappear, this holoform wasn't me. I wanted her to see me as I really was, I wanted her to know.

_'Why do I blow my lies most every time, like I've got no chance at all~'_

I pretend to me this fragging organic, when all I want to do is be with her as myself, as Cliffjumper, the fun loving Autobot.

_'If I could be your Superman, I'd fly into the stars and back again~'_

I would take her with me to visit the stars. I know how much she loves them.

_' Cause every time you touch my hand, you feel my powers running through your vains~'_

Sometimes, when she holds me, I swear she can feel my spark.

_'But I can only write this song, and tell you, that I'm not that strong~'_

I didn't write this song, but it was the best one to tell her how much I slagging cared about her. How important she was to me.

_'Cause I'm no Superman, I hope you like me as I am~'_

All I could hope for was for her to like me back, which I was almost certain she did.

_'Now it ain't no lie, I have to tell you how I feel~'_

This was the best was I could think of telling her. The most honest way.

_'But each time that I try, it gets a little more unreal~'_

Like tonight, she looked so beautiful, it almost did seem unreal, it seemed perfect. The stars, the moon, Carly herself. I knew she was always level with me. She wasn't hiding who she really was. She gave me the real Carly, and I was trying my best to give her the real Cliff. With Lyra's help, I vowed I _would_ give her the real Cliff, she deserved no less.

_'You say my name, oh God I can't stop shacking~'_

Right now I couldn't stop shaking, I was so nervous as to how she would react. But the whole time I was singing, she gave me the warmest smile I had ever seen. It was like a hug.

_'So why do I disappear, when you come near, it makes me feel so small~'_

_'If I could read your mind, girl would I find any trace of me at all~'_

I really did want to know. I wanted to know if she thought about me as much I as thought about her. Because I sometimes, she is all I can think about, okay, a lot of the time.

_'If I could be your Superman I'd fly into the stars and back again~'_

_'Cause every time you touch my hand, you feel my power's running through your veins~'_

_'But I can only write this song, and tell you, that I'm not that strong~'_

_'Cause I'm no Superman, I hope you like me as I-oh la da daa~'_

_'If I could be your Superman, I'd fly into the stars and back again!~'_

_'Cause every time you touch my hand, you feel my powers, running through your veins!~'_

_'But I can only write this song, and tell you that I'm not that strong!~'_

_'Cause I'm no Superman, I hope you like me as I am~'_

I let the song end, and put guitar away, before looking back at her. I saw a tear glisten on her cheek right before she tackled me. I let out a relived laugh. Smiling from ear to ear. I sat back up, holding Carly's face in my hands.

"Carly, will you be my girlfriend?"

"That depends." She laughed, a huge grin present on her face. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

I hugged her close, letting us fall back on the ground again.

"I think I can manage that." I laughed. I pulled her face to mine, kissing her again, trying to convey all my feelings though that one kiss. "Don't leave me." I whispered.

"Never." She promised.

We laid on you back, gazing up at the stars, just enjoying each other's company. She had her head on my chest, pointing out various consultations. It was perfect. I had never felt happier. I was determined to never allow any harm to come to her. I was determined to never lose her.

* * *

_**The Drone: Did I update quick enough this time? :D I hope you know that if you noticed Exactor missing, it was because he was watching over my shoulder, making sure I finished this chapter for you! XD**_

_**As for the rest of your questions-**_

_**The spoiler preventer: I will take it from here.**_

_**Me: But I wasn't going to give anything away!**_

_**The spoiler preventer (TSP): Sure you weren't.**_

_**Me: *Pouts***_

_**TSP: We cannot answer your questions without giving away future plot twists.**_

_**Me: That's what I was going to say! /:**_

_**TSP: Stop lying.**_

_**Me: Hmph!**_

_**Bee4ever: Thank you! :3 Cliff is a sweetie isn't he! I know! I was so proud of my Carly in the last chapter! :)**_

_**You guys should totally talk with Carly on her massager account;**_

_**carlyprim **_

_**You can talk to her, give her idea's, anything you want! There may even be special appearances from Cliff! In fact, it's almost garneted! ;D I hope to hear from you guys soon! :D**_

_**As always, reviews are welcomed, and always appreciated, I love hearing what you guys have to say! :)**_

_** ~Haiden**_


	22. Chapter 23

Carly's POV;

I didn't know how long we had been there, but I remember bolting upright suddenly. The sudden movement hurt, and I ached all over. I didn't know where I was at first, but I soon realized I fell asleep right beside a cliff. I looked around quickly, I wasn't alone when feel asleep!

"Cliff?" I called out alarmed. I got to my feet quickly, kicking off my heels. "If you were killed by a serial killer, and left me behind I swear I will kill you Cliff!" I started off running down the path, heading back to the parked car. "I know I can't kill you if your already dead, but Cliff, you better not have left me behind!"

I wasn't paying attention to what my feet were doing, so I soon face planted in the hard soil. I pushed myself up with a shaky breath, hugging myself as I tried to think. I didn't have my cell, so I couldn't call Lyra. I didn't know where Cliff was, so he was either dead, or he left to get breakfast and surprise me. He could have possibly just left me behind, but I don't think that was likely.

"Cliff?" I called out one last time before resting my head against the tree trunk. I almost wished I hadn't done that, because it just reminded me of my past.

***Flash Back***

"Dad, can I have a night-light?" I asked, I was six at the time.

"Now why would such a big brave girl like you want a night-light?" he asked smiling.

"I'm not brave." I mumbled. "The dark is scary. I always see monsters. Or red glowing eyes." I whined hugging him.

"Here, let me show you something." He said, pulling away gently, he went to turn off the room lights before he returned to my side. "Now, tell me, what do you see?"

I looked around the room, gasping at the sites of monsters. Robotic monsters.

"M-monsters!" I hiccuped. "L-lots of monsters!"

"Okay…" Dad said, wrapping a blanket around me, hugging me close. "Now I want you to try find something in the darkness. Something that you would always consider you protector."

I remember looking around the room till I found something with blue eyes. It was a little tiger. It was adorable. In fact, I still consider it my protector in the darkness.

"I see a little tiger!" I giggled. "But, what if I can't find it when I need it?"

"Then I want you to wrap a blanket around you, and pull it around yourself tightly, and pretend it's me."

"What it I don't have a blanket?"

"Then hug your legs, and pretend I have my arms wrapped around you."

"Why can't I just call for you?" I asked. I peered up at him. I was still able to make out his face in the darkness.

"I may not always been here with you. I wish I could promise I would, but I can promise that I will always be in your heart." He said, kissing my forehead and leaving the room.

***End Flash Back***

"I don't want you in my heart dad, I want you here with me." I mumbled sadly, hugging my knees as tightly as I could, tears biting my eyes.

Cliffjumper's POV;

I onlined to the happy wakeup call of Lyra screaming at my through a comm link.

::CLIFFJUMPER WHERE THE FRAG ARE YOU? MORE IMPORTANTLY WHERE IS CARLY? WHY WERE YOU TWO AWAY ALL NIGHT? ANSWER ME!:: Lyra yelled.

::Geez, take it easy Lyra. Nothing happened, we just fell asleep.::

That was when I realized that I was in my alt form. Which meant that my holoform must have fizzled out in the middle of the night. Which also meant the Carly was alone, and probably awake right now! I let my holoform fizzle to life beside me.

I took off running, only stopping to pick up some pretty flowers as a way to explain myself. I was a little past half way up the hill, when I saw Carly leaning against a big oak tree. Big tears shining in her eyes under her mask.

"Carly?" I asked, kneeling down beside her. "Are you-" I was cut off when she lunged at me, giving me a big hug.

"I'm fine." She assured me. "I'm just glad you came back. Where did you go anyways?"

"I went to pick you these." I said flashing her a grin while I pulled out the flowers from behind my back.

"Aw, thanks Cliff." She smiled, hugging me again.

"No thanks necessary." I grinned. "But I should be getting you home now, before I get into even bigger trouble with Lyra."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm kinda fond of you, and it's not always pleasant when Lyra's pissed."

"You speaking from experience?" I asked.

"Yeah, but she always go's easy on me. I don't know if you've noticed yet, but I'm a bit of a wimp." She laughed.

"No you aren't." I smiled, giving her a side hug as we descended down the cliff back to the car.

"Wow, you must not know me very well yet!" she laughed, "All Lyra had to do when we were younger was tickle me, and anything I was hiding from her would no longer be a secret."

Carly's POV;

The ride home was short, or at least it was to me, since I fell asleep in the car. I was able to sleep anywhere if I was tired enough. Before I knew it, Cliff was telling me we were there.

"We've arrived to your destination, thank you for choosing Cliffjumper travel. We hope you will be joining us again soon." He said, rambling on till I was finally awake.

"Good morning Sunshine." He smiled.

"Good morning Superman."

Cliff and I talked for a few more minutes before I finally slipped out of the car and walked up the path into the house. Lyra raced over, hugging me close before pushing me away to see how I looked.

"How are you?" she asked, studying me closely.

"A little tired." I admitted.

"You should head to bed, I have your costume for tonight in your room!"

"What costume, we already had the dance?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, but we also going to go trick or treating tonight."

"Okay. I'm not even going to ask what it is, I'm just going to bed." I mumbled walking up the stairs.

"Oh yeah Carly?" Lyra called up to me.

"Yeah."

"Never scare me like that again."

I turned to face my friend. She was hanging her head, studying the ground. I quickly raced back down to her, pulling her into a hug.

"I was so worried about you. I don't want to lose you. There are a lot of bad people and-" she cut herself off, hugging me tightly.

"Like I told Cliff, I'm not going anywhere." I promised.

After a few minutes Lyra pulled away, and sent me up to bed to sleep. I was starting to drift off while we were hugging, which is probably not a good sight. I quickly changed into some comfy clothes, and fell asleep instantly on my bed.

* * *

_**The Drone: Sorry it took me a little while to update. I was having fun hanging out with Exactor and Rotor! Yeah, someday in the story Megatron is going to be punched in the face plates. But it might not be in the prequel. (This is a prequel BTW, there is another one after this… :D) I don't think there should be to many more chapters till the prequel is done. About 10 at most I think... Are you up for keeping up with this one, and reading what comes next? ;D Oh, also, I had some extra energon on hand, so I feed them for you, they should come back to you very happy! :D lol, yeah, I was listening to the song when I came up with the idea. :)**_

_**Bee4ever: Thank you! :3 I know! That Cliff is just full of surprises! :D Gotta love him for it! ;D**_

_**Trunksymia: Thank you! :3 I try to do what I can with the story. :) Optimus…I feel like I coloured him as a bad guy, which I didn't really mean to do. Which is partly why I tried to redeem him a little in this chapter. Did it work?**_

_**I forgot to do this last time, but if any of you want to hear the Superman song, it's called 'Superman' and it's by: Joe Brooks.**_

_**Also, I don't really check Carly's hotmail account that much…sorry…but I do check her tumblr almost daily. So please feel free to find her and ask her any questions you'd like! She will answer them all truthfully. If you want to ask her what she thinks about something that she doesn't know in the story, go ahead, she will answer, but then forget about the question complete, that way we don't give away the story for her too! :)**_

_**So please give her a shout! :) Seriously, go bug her. It's fun for me. So go, you finished the chapter. :D No pressure…But you should go check it out. You can even talk to Lyra!**_

_**Doesn't that sound like fun? :D**_

_**~Haiden**_

_**P.S. I'm sorry this is such a short chapter. **_


	23. Authors note

_**Authors Note**_ _**Dear Readers**_ _**First off I want to thank The Drone for kicking my butt whenever I take too long to update. It helps me refocus of the fic.**_ _**For all my loyal readers, I want to thank you for being so patient. But I have a lot of stuff going on now. In my consort band class we just revived two new pieces that we are going to be playing at a festival next month. One is easier, but the other is difficult, so I've been trying to focus on that.**_ _**Also I have three exams next week that I have been studying my aft off for. On top of that I have a huge visual arts project due this up coming Wednesday. And some stressful family , I became fully addicted to tumblr...-_-'**_ _**I have a few rough chapters ready, but I want to polish them up before I post them because you guys have been waiting for them for a while now.**_ _**But I can't promise getting anything up till exams are over. I'll try. I have been trying, but I'm juggling a lot of scrap right now. /:**_ _**Sorry guys. :(I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible. I promise.**_ _**~Haiden**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Hey guys, I would like to start this chapter with an apology. I haven't really updated in forever, and I really have no excuse, but life does get in the way sometimes. I've been kind of low lately, and have been cursed with writers block. Also, fun fact about me, I was addicted to tumblr. I had checked my account on my dad's iPad (We gave it to him for Christmas.). I though I excited the site, but it turned out I didn't. He was looking at my dashboard and found some sexual stuff that people I followed had posted. Long story short, he was furious. He banned me from the laptop and iPad, also made me delete my accounts. So I haven't really been able to write when I wanted to because laptop was off limits...**_

**_Anyways. He is gone to work now, so I decided, I want to write and update my story. If any of my regular readers are still here...you are crazy and I love you! No joke. Sorry if that comes off creepy, but seriously, sticking with me after months of hiatus? I seriously love you, here have a cookie and a bear hug! 3_**

**_~Haiden_**

* * *

CARLY'S POV;

Time seemed to be slipping through the hour glass faster and faster then I could have ever imagined. My midterm exams where a nightmare. Or at least they would have been if Lyra didn't force me to study an hour every night. Its amazing how much you can learn when hit with pillows if you get distracted.

It was weird. I actually felt happier than ever, I felt more free. The only times that I feel the past rushing back to greet me, the sorrow and pain waiting with open arms, was when I walked into the house, after a long day at school, or hanging out with Lyra, Cliff, and sometimes Arcee, Bulk, and Bee.

It was even more amazing how much people can distract you, and make you feel as though everything is alright. How they can help you forget that nothing is waiting for you at home. I stopped crying through.

The months changed, the weather grew colder, then warmed up again. It seemed as though as soon as I was opening my eyes, it was June. I was graduating so soon. I was completely unprepared…

On the first, I dragged myself out of bed, brushed my teeth, jumped in the shower, and changed into some clean clothes. I flopped on my bed, thankful that it was a Saturday. I was lying in bed, drinking it all in. Soon I would be going to graduate. Soon I would be able to start a new life for myself. I could start anywhere I wanted. _'Maybe I could start over in Jasper.' _I thought with a smile. Whenever Cliffjumper spoke of his home, he made it sound wonderful. I knew he would want to be there. Maybe he would want me to go there with him.

"Are you _still_ asleep?" Lyra asked, poking her head through the door.

"Nope, I've been up for a while." I smiled.

"Good! Guess what we are going to do today!" she grinned, jumping on the bed beside me.

"What?" I asked.

"Guess!" she laughed, giving me a little shove.

"I don't know."

"Guess!"

"Just tell me!"

"Guess!" she snapped, hitting me with my pillow.

"Fine." I mumbled, sticking my lounge out at her, she stuck hers out right back at me. "Ummm…." I paused, trying to think. What was it usually when Lyra was acting like this? I felt me face fall. "Oh no! Nope! I refuse! It's Saturday Lyra! I'm not going to practice anymore slagging soccer with you!" I snapped, pushing off the bed, Lyra just laughed at me.

"No! That's not what I mean! I mean, it is fun watching you fail at a sport, but I was thinking about something that has to do with someone's graduation coming up!"

"We're going dress shopping?" I asked, looking back at her. "This is gonna prove to be tiresome." I grumbled walking downstairs.

"It'll be fun! I promise!" she grinned, catching up with me easily.

"Sure, anyways, I need to eat and brush first."

"Okay, but hurry!"

It was actually quick picking out the dress. I picked a long beautiful blue dress. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I was just about to give up. A lot of the dresses seemed like they would be nice, and they were, but they weren't quite right. Lyra agreed with me on that. She disappeared leaving me to look over my reflection in a pale green dress. I scrunched up my nose looking at it, before I noticed Lyra holding up the dress.

As soon as I saw it, my mouth fell open. I turned to look at Lyra, grinning. "It looks perfect."

"Then try it on!" she ordered, handing me the dress. I laughed, and gave her a salute, as I walked into the change room.

When I walked out and looked in the mirror, I smiled, it was perfect.

"I think this calls for a celebration!" Lyra declared as we exited the store.

"Ice cream?" I asked, smirking slightly, "At our old spot?"

"You read my mind!" she laughed, leading the way to the car. She paused right before she climbed into the driver's seat. "Hey, why don't you drive?" she asked tossing me the keys.

"You're kidding right?" I raised my eyebrows at her, I hated driving in the middle of the city.

"Nope. You'll have to get used to it for when you go to some fancy college, or something." she grinned, switching sides with me, and climbing into the passenger seat.

I let out a small sigh, tossing the keys up and down for a long minute. Glancing at the roads, they didn't look too bad. Yet.

"Okay. But if we get into a car accident, it's your fault for making me drive, alright?" I asked, turning the keys in the ignition.

"Pfft! Yeah right, I'm playing victim when the cops ask what happened." Lyra laughed.

"Thanks, it's good to know I can always rely on you." I grumbled indignantly.

I'm sure anyone reading this would be happy to know that I didn't crash and die. That I am a decent driver. Ha Lyra. Ha on you!

Anyways. The rest of the ride was filled with laughter and planning. A light hearted topic that filled many of the days to follow. But when we ordered our ice cream and took our seat at our usual table, I finally asked Lyra a question that had been on my mind for the past little while.

"Hey, Lyra?" I started.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"I was thinking…" I paused as the waiter delivered the ice cream sundae's.

"Well if it isn't the dynamic duo." he smiled, he looked genuinely happy to see us, though he did look a little happier to see Lyra.

"Hey Walter." Lyra grinned.

"Haven't seen you two around for a long time, I was worried you girls decided to do something crazy like cut ice cream out of your lives."

I gasped mock surprise. "Cut ice cream out of our lives?! Cut ice cream-" I pretended to sputter. "Who could do such a crazy thing?" I demanded.

We continued the small talk for a few more minutes, before Walter had to go back to work.

"So what were you going to tell me?" Lyra asked.

"I don't think I want to go to a secondary school." I started slowly. "I want to go travel with Cliff, maybe settle down in Jasper with him."

Lyra gave me a long serious look as she swallowed some ice cream. "I think that sounds nice, and I'm all for taking a year or two off and traveling. But don't think you should give up going to a good college or university." she paused taking a deep breath. "The only advice I'm going to give you on your live, is; Follow your dreams, wherever they may take you. Alright?"

Smiling and taking another spoonful of my sundae I nodded. "I will." I grinned after swallowing. "Thanks Lyra."

"Hey, you don't need to thank me! I'm just being my super amazing self!" she grinned back.

"What would I do without you?" I laughed.

"Pfft! You would be a fashion disaster for one thing and-"

"You don't need to actually answer that…it was a hypothetical question…"

"I know." Lyra smirked.

* * *

_**Bee4ever: Thank you! Oh man, I am so sorry to hear about your dad. I mean, I couldn't even imagine losing my dad.**_

_**Carly walks up to you and pulls you into a big hug, and Cliff hugs you and Carly. Lyra shows up with ice cream, and you all sit on the cliff's edge. But Carly only sits after making Cliff swear not to push anyone off.**_

_**Lady Minuialwen: X3 Thank you! I'm glad you like it! :D**_

_**The Drone/The Angrey Drone: I can't tell you what I have planned next, but I can tell you, if you hate the ending for this one, I can guarantee I will give you a…better…(yeah that's a safe word to use) ending for the actual story. Once I know how TFP season three ends that is…**_

_**XD Haha! Sorry about that! I promise not to feed him anymore! Actually if I ever do, I'll make sure I send someone back with him to clean up the mess!**_

_**Yeah, I only include things that are from Transformers Prime in my story. I thought about maybe adding crossovers, but that would get too complicated you know? :P**_

_**Yeah, Cliff isn't too happy with me for not hurrying up and updating to get him free…sorry about that.**_

_**Cliff: I'm not talking to you.**_

_**Me: I'm sorry!**_

_**Cliff: What was that I didn't hear anything.**_

_**Me: What happened to your sense of humor?**_

_**Me:…**_

_**Me: Yup he's ignoring me.**_

_**Okay, I will be updating soon, so thanks again to those who have waited patiently for me to come back! As always, please leave a review, I love hearing what you guys have to say about my story! Weather it is a compliment, or constructive criticism to help me improve my writing further! :) **_

_**~Haiden**_


	25. Chapter 25

NARRITIVE POV; (Graduation Day)

Carly giggled to herself as she stared at the computer screen. She could hardly believe that today was grad! She could hardly believe that she was going with Cliff and Lyra!

So why was she sitting and typing away? She was writing a letter to Cliff, telling him all the things she knew she probably wouldn't have the guts to tell him tonight to his face.

'Dear Cliff,  
I can't tell you how much its meant to me just having you around to hang out with, to just be with you. It's amazing how you were able to change a year, a day, that started out with such gut wrenching grief into some of the best days of my life, all because you were here. :)  
I can't wait till my grad is over so I can start my life with you! We could take a trip and just travel for a year! Live out of the car. I have money, I could by food. LOL!'

She stopped and stared unsatisfied with what she wrote. She quickly highlighted it all, hit the backspace, and started again.

'Dear Cliff,  
I wanted to write you this letter, to tell you all the things I would be too nervous or scared to tell you in person, but that's not how I want this to work. I want us to be able to tell each other everything and anything, no matter how trivial it may seem. So that's what I'm going to do tonight. :)

Yours forever and for always,  
Carly

P.S.  
You are my Superman.'

A small smile played on her lips as she re read what she wrote. This time it felt right. But she didn't want to send it yet, she wanted to send it after she was all ready. And if she didn't get ready soon, Lyra would be on her ass.

A shower, dressing and make up session later she was standing in front of the mirror, feeling just like a princess. Her hair wasn't that long yet, so there wasn't much she could do with it.

She felt silly for doing so, but she took her own photo, and sent it to Lyra.

Carly quickly dialed Lyra's number holding the phone to her ear as she pressed the send button.

Lyra didn't pick up, but Carly left a message anyways.

"Hey Lyra! I just want to phone to see where your at! Are you coming over soon? I need you to help me style my short hair! I don't know how!" she giggles pausing. "Who am I kidding, you probably have some extravagant hair style you want to try! Oh Primus Lyra! My stomach is filled with so many butterflies! I feel so nervous, but excited too! Was this how you felt" she paused hearing a knock at the door. "One second. There's someone at the door, it might even be you!" she laughed again, holding the phone to her chest.

"Hello?" she asked, opening the door a crack, before all colour drained from her face.

"Hello, Carly. It's so nice to finally meet the Prime's daughter face to face." a well-dressed business man smiled, his voice smooth, and he would have seemed like a regular man, if he wasn't the one who haunted Carly's nightmares.

"W-what?" she asked confused. "Wh-what are you talking about! Who ARE you?!" she demanded.

When the man started to push the door open, Carly panicked slamming it shut.

"Lyra!" she said into the phone, panic filling her words. I need help! Please! someone-" she was cut off by the sound of her own scream as the door was thrown off its hinges.

She dropped the phone, not hearing Lyra finally pick up her phone with a cheery hello, only to start to panic herself. "CARLY!" she yelled into her receiver, "CARLY! GET OUT OF THERE!" she screamed.

But Carly was racing up her stairs, running like a chicken with it's head cut off. She made it to her room, locking her door, and trying to pry open her window. She even attempted to punch throw the window, nearly breaking her hand instead of the window. She bit down her out cry for pain, racing to hide in the closet. She closed the closet doors just as her room door went flying across her room.

"Carly." he laughed menacingly as he scanned the room

* * *

_**Hey Guys! :)**_

_**First off, sorry about the extremely short chapter...and the cliff hanger(lol, no I'm not sorry about the cliff hanger...). **_

_**Anyways. Just going to say that I'm going to try and write at least one chapter a week! Preferably two...but honestly...I'm going to have trouble focusing long enough to manage one...you all have seen my short attentions span -Hey look a butterfly!- So wish me luck with that! XD I'll try not to leave you in suspense for too long! X3 **_

_**StarLight837: I just-thank you! *Makes Cliff give you a big hug, and spin you around.* **_

_**Cliff: Not that I'm complaining, but why do you always make me hug people?**_

_**Me: Because your so lovable...*in a hushed voice*...and you the most cooperative. **_

_**Cliff: What? I didn't catch that last part. **_

_**Me: Shhh! Not in front of the readers! **_

_**Cliff: But-**_

_**Me: Shhhh**_

_**Yeah...I don't even know what I'm doing anymore...I'd say it was because I'm tired...but really...I'm like this 90% of the time...in my head...**_

_**Elhini Prime: YOU ARE ALL SO AMAZING AND NICE TO ME! AND I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MANY OF YOU ARE STILL FOLLOWING AND READING MY FIC! I LOVE YOU ALL! *GLOMPS YOU* THEN MAKES EVERYONE ON TEAM PRIME GO IN ON A BIG GROUP HUG, WITH YOU STUCK IN THE MIDDLE! WEATHER YOU WANT TO BE OR NOT! MWAHAHAHAHA!**_

_**Yup...I am suprised myself at how insane I am...*awkwardly moving right along.* XD**_

_**Bee4ever: Haha! What was I thinking?! Sorry, Bee was just late! X3**_

_**Bee walks up the the cliff in his holoform with a cheerful and innocent smile on his face. "It's 'bout time you showed up!" Lyra laughed, getting up, and giving him a 'light' punch in the shoulder. Bee just gives a little chirp of embarrassment. But before he can say anything else, Lyra herds away Carly and Cliff, leaving you and Bee by yourselves. **_

_**Bee sits down beside you, placing his arm over your shoulder, causing you to lean on him as you both watch the sunset. The evening was almost perfect, had Carly not felt obligated to come back and remind you that she left her cooler filled with ice cream treats, should you two get hungry. **_

_**The Drone: Thank**_** you****_ for not giving up on me! And you know what, it's still a while before Megatron get's punched in the face (Or even introduced into the story...) but..._**

**_Megatron: Why did you ask me here? _**

**_Me: *Punches him in the face, and breaks my hand.* CRAP! CRAP! OWWWWWWWWWW! I AM HURT! I AM VERY MUCH HURT! _**

**_Megatron: I'm going back to recharge..._**

**_Me: That's right! You better run!...owwww..._**

**_So I'd say I've acted weirder then usual with this chapter...maybe because things were I am are finally warming up! Or maybe it just took me a while to get comfortable with the readers to act this stupid! Who knows! X3_**

**_As always please leave me a review after you have read the chapter! I absolutely love hearing what you all think about whats happening! :3 _**

**_~Haiden_**


	26. Chapter 26

NARRITIVE POV;

"Carly." he laughed menacingly as he scanned the room, his eyes falling on the closet doors where he picked up her head signature. "Come out, come out!" he grinned, ripping the closet doors open. In a panic, Carly tried to push past the man, who simply grabbed her arm, roughly pulling her back to face him.

Cliffjumper's POV;

I didn't know what was going on, Lyra was making very little sense over the comm link, all I could get out of her was to get to Carly's house _now. _ It couldn't have been because I was late, because I wasn't yet, and I wasn't going to be. So it had to mean something worse;

Carly was hurt, or in danger.

But if Carly was hurt, Lyra would have called for Rachet, not me.

My tire's screeched on the pavement, so many thoughts running through my head about what could have happened, it couldn't have been anything good…'Wait, was it possible they were playing a prank on me?' I thought. I clung tightly to that thought as I finally reached Carly's, only to have it shattered as soon as my holoform reached the front door.

"No." I whispered, not even daring to speak any louder.

"Cliff!" Lyra called, her voice on the edge of hysterics.

"Lyra!" her voice forced me to focus again as I ran up the stairs to Carly's room. I didn't know why I bothered to look at her hopefully, a small part of me still thinking this was a joke. But the door to Carly's room was had been busted open too, some of the things on Carly's shelf had been kicked off from a struggle.

Taking it all in, I somehow found myself sitting beside Lyra on the bed. Who could have done this? Rachet didn't pick up any Con activity, so it couldn't have been the Con's…Right..?

"This isn't even the best part." Lyra muttered staring at the wall as through she was in a daze. "Go read what she left up on her computer. An email she was probably about to send you.

I read it over once, twice, and a third time, covering my face with my hand. The first emotion that surged through me was rang, and pain, thoughts that quickly turned hateful and blaming on others. I had to physically shake them away.

"No. No!" I snapped, hitting my hand on the computer desk. "We are going to find her! We'll get the others to help, we'll do whatever it takes! This is probably the work of some human thug right! So we'll track him down and have a nice little chat with him!" I said, pulling Lyra up to her feet, but she pushed me away.

"Yes! We will find them and give them the ass kicking of their life!" Lyra said, with force and determination. With an subtle undertone of fear and desperation.

::Rachet. We need a ground bridge _now_.:: I commed the medic.

::Cliffjumper, what's wrong?::

::It's Carly.::

Narrative POV;

"Who are you?" she whispered, everything about her screamed out in her fear.

"As if you don't know." he said his voice calm and cool.

"I don't!" she yelped as he increased his pressure on her arm. "S-Stop it!" she cried. "You're hurting me!"

"This is only the beginning." he threatened, if you continue to lie to me." his voice hard.

"I'm _not_ lying!" she snapped, before wincing and whimpering again.

He started dragging her back out into the hallway, down the stairs, and towards the door, covering her mouth so she wouldn't scream. Her eyes widened as she stepped outside. A huge jet of some kind was in her front yard. If she hadn't been so scared she would have rolled her eyes. Her neighbors saw 'everything' yet they didn't see this and try help her the one time she actually needed their help?

Talking a seat in the jet as it took off. The man piloting they craft suddenly flickered in and out of existence before finally disappearing and leaving the seat empty.

"What the pit?!" she yelped, trying to undo her seat belt, but it was as though it had a mind of it's own.

"Please!" she begged, trying not to cry from the fear that threatened to swallow her whole. "Please just let me go! You have the wrong girl, I don't know what the hell is going on!" she choked, her voice wavering.

Carly's POV;

The inner turmoil of emotions were surging through me, wave after wave. But any action, and helpful thoughts were frozen by heart stopping fear.

My trance like state was shattered when I was suddenly tumbling through the air, landing on a cool, metal floor. The fight or flight instinct kicking in at the moment. Scrambling to though off my shoes, I ran, not looking behind me. A whirl of machinery forced my feet to move even faster.

"Where do you think you're going Carly? There's nowhere for you to run to. No escape." he chuckled darkly.

I was going at such a speed, that I couldn't stop right away when I saw the edge of the…air ship…

A scream, caught in my chest, as I tripped over the edge…

* * *

**_Late and another cliff hanger...feel free to hate me...XP (...but please don't! LOL!)_**

**_Elhini Prime: :D The middle is the best place to be when your in a group hug! XD Unless you're trying to get away...not that that has ever happened to me before...*shifty eyes* And Yeah, Cliff hangers are way to fun to write, I personally hate reading them...but I love writing them...I guess that makes me a hypocrite...just a little bit... :P_**

**_Bee4ever: :333 You're welcome! :D Have you figured out who the mystery man is yet? ;)_**

**_The Drone: Haha! Sorry it was so short. But sometimes, ever if you want the chapter to be a little longer, you want to end it at certain spots, to make it more intense! I hope I did better this time! x)_**

**_Yeah, I've always sort of wondered about how it feels when the bots have the kids sitting inside them...I guess they feel things a little differently then we do...well obviously they do...but hopefully I'm making a little sense. :P_**

**_Maybe I _****did****_ read your mind! I'll never tell! XD Just kidding! I won't tell you who it is, because I'm pretty sure you know who know anyways! (Don't worry, I have major difficulty with spelling too. :P) Soundwave is one of my favorites too, but Breakdown is at the top of the list..._**

**_I might have to go over the once a week thing a little bit, since I skipped last week, and we are at the climax pretty much right now, so I might just get it all done and finished and start posting the story about what happens after everything is over. _**

**_THANK YOU! _**

**_ForgotMyName2Day: YOU'RE BACK! WHERE WERE YOU HIDING?! OF COURSE YOU GET HUGS!-I mean, hey! It's been a while since I last heard from you, not that I missed you that much or anythi-YOU'RE BACK! *GLOMPS* But you probably are looking for a hug from Bee, and not me, am I right? XD_**

**_Bee walks up to you, in his holoform, chirping cutely, leaning down, wrapping his arms around you to give you a big bear hug, lifting you up a little, and spinning you around, before setting you down again, grinning. _**

* * *

**_Thank you guys all for reading and reviewing! :D It's so much fun for me, getting to see all of your reactions to the story! I can't promise that the next chapter won't be a cliff hanger, but I can say that it should be out tomorrow. I'm going to get cracking and finishing it up as soon as I finish this. _**

**_As always, please feel free to review! _**

**_~Haiden_**


	27. Chapter 27

Carly's POV;

A scream, caught in my chest, as I tripped over the edge. But thankfully, I instinctively snapped my hand out to catch the edge of the air ship thing. Letting out the screech that I had held back as a stared down at the Earth that was so far away, I started feeling a little dizzy, nearly losing my grip.

Looking up at the thing that had taken me, my eyes widened, and my heart stopped. Almost an inaudible whisper, I managed to ask again, all colour draining from my face. "What are you?"

"Don't play coy with me human." he sneered, reaching down one claw like hand. Without thinking, I let go of the ledge, just out of sheer desperation, wanting to get away from it. I was supposed to be partying with Lyra, dancing with Cliff, just having a blast at my grad. I felt tears fill my eyes. Didn't I deserve that. I had been through so much, I had also gained so much. Was I being selfish?

Feeling the claw snatch me from the air, I mentally shook my head, no one deserves this. I didn't. Being carried wasn't fun, it was terrifying, especially when we entered the ship. More robot like things then I could count wandered the corridors, continuing on their way. I felt so weak and helpless. I wanted to curl into a ball and disappear forever. "What's your name?" I asked suddenly. "If you won't tell me anything about what you are, at least tell me your name."

"Lord Starscream." he replied curtly.

He continued walking, down the seemingly endless hallway, before finally entering a new room. I had tried to memorize the path he took, but too much was going on, I could process what was happening. I couldn't think straight.

This Starscream character planted me firmly on the ground, and started on his way out. I wanted to call out to him, ask him what he was going to do now. But my voice wouldn't work. Just before he exited the room, he turned, his blood red eyes landing on me, causing me to shiver involuntarily. He looked up again, at something behind me, before giving the instructions. "Make our guest comfortable, Soundwave." he ordered, continuing on his way out.

Spinning around quickly, I looked up at another dark coloured robot thing behind me with unnaturally long arms, and…tentacles?!

As one winded its way towards me in a tantalizing slow manner, I backed up a bit, throwing my hands up in front of me, to wards it away. "Please." I choked, "I just want to go home. I don't know anything."

Looking up and away from the tentacle, up to what I assumed was his face, pleading silently as well. I would like to be able to tell you, that this wasn't that scary, that I could handle it. But the truth is, I had never been more sacred in my entire life.

But he made no acknowledge meant that he heard or understood me. His tentacle just kept coming, until it…

Cliffjumper's POV;

Walking into the base, anyone could tell how pissed Lyra was. She wasted no time shifting from her human from, into her bot form, standing at about Arcee's height now.

"What happened to Carly?" Rachet asked, getting straight to the point.

"She's gone!" Lyra…Lyrazone now, snapped.

"Gone where? What do you mean?"

"Someone's taken her, and I don't know where."

Rachet quickly turned to face the monitors, and began searching frantically, but the computer he was forced to used kept crashing. As he grumbled and cursed, I put my servo on his shoulder. "Just take deep breath Rachet, it'll only take longer if you try to rush."

"This is all your fault!" Rachet snapped, turning on me.

"W-What?!" I stuttered.

"If you hadn't left her alone, like I specifically asked you too, this never would have happened!"

"We have no reason to assume it is the Decepticons Rachet." Optimus rumbled, trying to keep his old friend calm.

"This isn't Cliff's fault!" Lyra snarled, "It's yours!" she yelled at Optimus. "If you hadn't left, then you would have been there, and she would still be here too!" she took a deep breath, and just stared him down. "You don't even appear to care! Your own daughter is gone, and you are just standing there!"

"It does not pay to be hasty. If we want to get her back as soon as possible, we must form a proper plan. One which will take time to come up with."

"And while you are planning, Carly is out there, scared, and probably in danger!" she paused, "Will you show some emotion Primus dammit!"

The Prime regarded her sadly, and before anyone could say anything else, I walked up behind Lyrazone, placing a servo on his shoulder gently. "Let go and search for her." I said gently, "While these guys come up with a fool proof plan."

Lyra reluctantly nodded, finally tearing her eyes away from the Prime, and shifting into her alt mood, driving off ahead of me.

* * *

_**Elhini Prime: Haha! Yeah, it's just way to fun, eh? x)**_

_**The Drone: XD That was one of my favourite parts from the first movie, don't ask me why. :P Maybe it was just the way he said it… *Shrug***_

_**Yeah, he was being impulsive, and naïve. But I was still a little surprised what a supposed kids show took it that far. I was pretty mad at Arachnid for a bit, but I was enraged by MECH…Anyways… XP**_

_**That would have been a good idea, and I would have done it too. But since they didn't know that the Con's were back until the first episode, then I didn't want them to know they were back yet.**_

_**StarLight837: XD I'm sorry! But I think the next few chapters will seem a bit like cliff hangers! Just because the story is starting to draw to a close. XP But I must admit, I also do cliff hangers to drive you guys crazy! MWAHAHAHAHA! XD **_

_**Thanks from keep up with Superman everyone! :D It will be drawing to a close in the next few chapter, so stay tuned! Haha! As always, please feel free to leave a review on what you think about what's going on. Things you think I'm doing well, things you think I could be improving on, or just to say 'Hey'! I love hearing from you guys! :) Until next time!**_

_**~Haiden**_


	28. Chapter 28

Cliffjumper's POV;

::Can you believe Optimus?:: Lyrazone grumbled over the comm link. ::First leaving Carly, and now he doesn't even seem to care!::

::I get where you're coming from. Really, Lyra, I do. But I think you should cut Optimus a little slack.:: I started hesitantly.

::What?!:: she snapped, screeching to a stop, flipping into her robot mode, glowering at me. "You saw him, Cliff, he showed no emotion! Why are you taking his side?"

"I'm not! But it's just-Prime's never show emotion, they can't afford the luxury."

"Not even towards their own children?! It's not right-"

"No, it isn't right." I started carefully, "But nothing about this war is, Lyra!" I took a deep breath, "You haven't been exposed to it like we have, and I'm thankful for that. I don't wish it upon anyone, especially those I care about!" I paused. "Think about it this way, if you had an enemy that just wouldn't stop. One that would take any chance he could to finish you off, would you want him to know about your family, about how much you care for others? He doesn't show emotions, because he can't afford too. He had had over hundreds of millennia's to perfect that."

"Cliff." She faltered, "I can feel Carly through our bond, and I know Optimus can too. She is scared, and someone is hurting her." she stared at me for a long hard minute, "Someone is hurting her, and her father is supposed to be protecting her, and I can't understand how he can be so emotionally detached about this? How he can be so fragging calm? How are you feeling about all this? You seem to be handling this, like everyone else is."

"You wanna know the truth? I'm scared. But we can't all break down at once. We will find her. We won't give up until we do, alright?"

Lyra just nodded, shifting back into her alt mode. I could see her pain, her anguish. It was the only thing keeping her going right now. We had to find Carly, at any coast.

Narrative POV (aboard the Nemesis);

An unruly, broken scream rippled through the air. Upped with so much pain, it could have reduced you to tears, but it didn't even falter her attackers.

"Where are they!" Starscream snarled.

"I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Carly screamed, tears rushing down her face.

Crackles of electricity filling in the silence causing another scream to fill the silence.

Carly hiccuped as she sobbed. Everything hurt. Pain more intense than anything she ever could have possibly imagined. The only thing keeping her going was her unrealistic hope that Lyra and Cliff would save her. Deep down she didn't believe they had a chance against these giant metal monsters.

"I'll ask again; Where is the location of the Autobot's hideaway?" he asked impatiently, tapping his heel like feet on the floor.

Carly didn't have the strength left to make another attempt to convince him that she really didn't know anything. Her now silent tears dripping off her chin and nose, falling a great hight to land with a splash on the ground.

"Your friends can't save you, you know. They can't even find you. So if you want to get out of this alive, I suggest you become a little more cooperative. Otherwise I will find other means to make you talk." He threatened, as he stalked out of the room, but Carly could hardly lift her head.

Narrative POV (Autobot Base);

"Dang blast it! Fragging human technology!" Rachet cursed, before turning to face Optimus. "I won't be able to find her using his!" he said exasperating.

"Would you be able to fix it?" Optimus asked, having very little lick coming out with a plan. He held a calm exterior, but beyond that, he was in a state of panic. Wanting to do that right thing, practical and beneficial to his team. However, he also wanted to save his daughter, whatever the coast, and to keep her safe from any future attack like this.

"I've tried everything. I'm sorry Optimus." Rachet sighed with a shake of his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for my old friend."

"What would you like us to do?"

"The only thing we can do right now. Ask the others to keep an eye open for her and her captors while they are patrolling."

Rachet nodded, but looked at his friend, silently, noticing his distracted eyes. "What will you do?"

"I don't know."

* * *

_**Deception is Deception: *Face-palm* Thank you for letting me know. I guess I was just thinking about Shockwave or something at the time. Also, thanks for telling me how to spell Megatronus! :) I will take extra care to make sure I get it right in the future! :D **_

_**StarLight837: Haha, I'm sure Lyra verbal thrashings now, and in the future will be more then enough for the big guy. But if you do do anything, I suggest a hammer, just saying. Mostly because the Autobots kinda need him, just a little bit...XP Anyways! x) Thank you! I hope I didn't take to long to update! :P**_

_** : *Hugs* I'm sorry, and its just going to get worse before it gets better. :( You should! I miss that one! **_

_**The Drone: Thanks! :) Yeah, I don't know who I feel worse for right now, Lyra or Optimus...I think I'm leaning a little more to Lyra and Cliff, but Optimus is right behind them. **_

_**Yeah, I don't think Knockout would have spared him. I think he would have made it as long and painful as possible, Breakdown was his partner in crime, his best friend, after all.**_

_**Haha, thank you! Their names aren't that similar...but they are just similar enough that I would manage to confuse them...XP**_

* * *

_**Thanks for reading, and all your reviews, their are still a few chapters left for the prologue, and I'm also trying to get the first chapters of the next part ready to publish for as soon as I finish 'Superman'. The only think I'm going to tell you about the main story is that it is going to be entitled 'The Oath'! :)**_

_**As always, please review, and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you all! :D**_

_**~Haiden**_


	29. Chapter 29

Carly's POV;

It's amazing how easy it is to lose track of time. Minutes draining into hours, and hours weaving into days. I don't know how long I was there exactly. The only things I can remember clearly are pain, and a feeling of utter hopelessness. No matter what I said, he didn't believe me. No longer how long I denied everything, he persisted. My time on that blasted ship(that I later learned was named the Nemesis), were either spent in silence and pain, or arguments, and pain. No matter what was going on, because of the chains wrapped tightly around my arms suspending me in the air, I was in a constant state of pain.

I could feel the chains digging deeper and deeper every day. My wounds oozing, my head spinning, it was all becoming too much for me.

Starscream had found alternative means to try and make me talk. Means that I can't even bear to name, let alone describe. All I will say is that electrocution was the better option. The less painful one. But finding no means to convince his Royal Denseness of my innocence, the pain never stopped.

Until one day…

My last day…

Starscream had left the room, Soundwave right on his heels. But suddenly, the taller quieter mech stopped. Waiting for Starscream to leave the room before he turned to face me. I could only stare back, I felt lost in bleak despair with no way out. As we stared at one another, a deeper understanding passed through us. He knew I had no information, and I knew he couldn't betray his Lord and set me free. So he instead decided to grant me mercy.

By ending my pain.

In the few steps it took him to reach me, I couldn't help but reflect on a few things, and ponder the meaningless. 'Should I be scared?' was my first thought, for days I had felt as though I was staring down the barrel of a fun, just waiting for the trigger to be pulled.

'Would Lyra ever realize what happened?' No probably not. I could only hope she would forgive herself for something that wasn't her fault.

'Would Cliff have been the one?' I'd like to think so.

'Would he come to peace with this?' I hoped so.

'Would I see them all again?' Yes, one day. One day we would all be together again.

As Soundwave stood before me, his dark figure looming over mine. I managed to give him the smallest smile, the only one I could manage, as a thank you.

Closing my eyes, I fondly recalled one of my oldest memories; Lyra and I sitting on the swings, dad pushing me. Lyra's dad pushing her. Her mom gabbing about anything and everything to 'her boys', while Lyra and I squealed at the height.

Rushing up right after that memory were snap shots of all my happirst moments; eating ice cream with Lyra. Shopping with her. Talking with dad. Goofing off with Lyra. Driving with dad and listening to all his stories. Cramming for an exam, and finding a cooler beside my head when I woke up, hair a mess, cheek stuck to my books. Inside it a fudge sundae for good luck. Dad's smile, and his eyes filled with pride. Jumping off the cliff's with Cliff. The night of the masquerade. Cliff singing to me at our spot. My Superman's warm loving smile.

One small tear rolled off my cheek, a soft, but weak smile on my lips as I whispered; "Daddy, I'm coming home."

Narrative POV (With Lyra and Cliff);

The holoform on Lyra's alt form shuttered off, right before she rolled to the ground, shifting from her alt mode to robot mode, finally finishing with her human form. A deep animal like wail escaped her as she clawed at her chest. If you had heard it, you wouldn't have been able to make out the words. But that wouldn't have stopped your heard from shattering.

"CARRRRLYYYY! NOOOOOOO!" she hiccupped, sobbing.

Cliff's holoform had his arms wrapped around her, rocking her gently back and forth in seconds. "Shhh, Lyra, it's okay. Shh." he soothed, waiting for her to regain her baring's before he asked he what happened.

When she could finally stand again, she took a few more minutes, just breathing. Finally, Lyra looked Cliff in the eyes, her cheeks tear stains, her eyes red and puffy, her voice no louder than a whisper. "Cliff…I-I-I-I I Can't feel Carly anymore…She's-she's- She's g-g-g-g gone."

It took a while for her words to sink in. At first he wouldn't, couldn't believe it. But he knew Lyra would never joke about this. But he still refused to believe it.

"No." he finally whispered. "No! NO! NONONONONONONO!" his words began to slur together to become one giant sob. He held Lyra even tighter, falling to his knees, making her drop to her knees as well.

Lyra hugged him back just as fiercely, a wave of fresh tears pouring down.

Narrative POV (Autobot Base);

Optimus was helping Rachet tinker with the computer when he felt a surge from his bond with Carly, before, just as suddenly, it went out completely. Wavering, his servo landed on Rachets shoulder, trying to steady himself. The medic looked up at the Prime in alarm. "Optimus-"

"Carly is offline."

Rachet closed his optics, placing his servo gently on the Primes, giving it a small squeeze for support.

Devastation tore through the Prime. He squeezed his optics shut, trying to regain control of the emotions raging through him. They wouldn't do him any good now. They couldn't bring his daughter back. Nothing could.

Regaining his composure, he nodded at his old friend before saying; "I'm going to take a drive, I will be back…before tomorrow." Shifting into his alt from Optimus drove, in sensible manner, out of the base. Leaving the good medic along with his thoughts.

A short segment from Carly's final English Essay;

Some of us are destined to make a difference. To be a hero. To overcome all challenges, and to live happily ever after.

But some of us aren't so lucky. Some of us are destined to fall.

We won't know who is who until we are facing down the end. But no matter which we are, we have to make the best of every moment, of every emotion. Take your opportunities, seize the day, and live with a little regrets as possible.

END  
PROLOGUE

* * *

_**The Drone: I agree. I prefer Soundwave too. No offense to all the Shockwave lovers. He's cool too, I just personally prefer Soundwave. :P**_

_**StarLight837: XD I personally prefer water myself, but I must admit, fire is pretty fun too, haha! WHOOO FOR HAMMERS! XD Thank you! :3 I know right! Optimus is such a softie! :D *joins in your happy dance***_

_**Elhini Prime: Haha! Sorry! I can't help myself! XD…Sorry about this ending too…I was personally crying…because I get over emotional about stories…even if I'm the one writing them…but technically, it is only the beginning! DUN DUNN DUNNNN!**_

_**Bee4ever: Thank you! And…this ending…I'm sorry…**_

_**Okay, I'm expecting a lot of very unhappy readers at this point…which I deserve, because I would pissed at this point too…after I finished crying that is…Which is why I'm posting the first chapter of 'The Oath' right after this. Any questions you may have at this time, will all be answered in the next story…eventually…and I promise the ending will be happier…**_

_**It's been fun writing Superman for you all! You guys have made it all worthwhile! I hope that most of you will continue you to read future adventures with most of your beloved characters!**_

_**I'm going to end with this;**_

_**I hope you all don't hate me too much…XP Feel free to leave a review. I will reply to them in 'The Oath'.**_

_**Thank you for your time, patients, and support!**_

_**Big hugs to all my readers. Especially big bear hugs to all my reviewers! I love you guys! TT^TT**_

_**~Haiden**_


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